Ron Pulvers enters his fifth season as Head Coach of the women's soccer team at Cal State San Marcos. Pulvers has guided the Cougars to an overall record of 36-24-14 in the first four seasons of intercollegiate competition.
Pulvers led the 2009 Cougars to a 9-5-5 record and a second consecutive appearance at the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) Championship. The Cougars would become the #2 seed and face Simon Fraser in a rematch of the 2008 final. The Cougars prevailed with a tough 1-0 result, and defeated #1 seed Ohio Dominican in the final to secure back-to-back AII Championships, and advance to a second consecutive NAIA National Tournament. The Cougars spent several weeks in the top 20 national poll being rated as high as #9.
Sophomore Goalkeeper Kaycee Gunion led the Cougars with a .56 goals against average and named the AII Conference Player of the Year. In addition to First Team AII honors, Gunion was named to the NSCAA All-America Third Team and NAIA All-America Third Team. Joining Gunion in the All-Conference team were Taylor Ziencina, Lauren Johnson, Breanna Brenton, Kelly Wherry, Courtney Drummond, Lucia Asbury, and Brittany Boyce. Clarissa Hidalgo was selected as an Academic All-American.
In 2008 the Cougars achieved an unprecedented 13-4-4 record and advanced to the AII conference championships in San Antonio, TX. The Cougars would go on to the final where they defeated Simon Fraser University on penalty kicks and advanced to the NAIA national championships. The Cougars hosted one of the first-round national championship matches defeating Benedictine (Kan.) 2-0, advancing to the NAIA sweet sixteen in Daytona Beach, FL. The Cougars would eventually lose to NAIA power Azusa Pacific 3-0 in the round of sixteen. The Cougars spent 11 weeks in the top 20 national poll finishing the season ranked 10 nationally. Katelyn Krauss, Kelly Wherry, and Kaycee Gunion would be named to the AII first team as well as honorable mention All-America.
In 2007 the Cougars faced a more robust schedule that featured only three home contests. Armed with a terrific recruiting class, Pulvers guided the Cougars through a season that saw many great moments and the beginning of some real consistency. A 2-1 win at top-15 rated Concordia, Irvine sent the Cougars to the NAIA Region II Semi-Finals where they lost to number one ranked Azusa Pacific 2-1 in overtime. In two seasons, Pulvers has developed the CSUSM women's soccer team into a very reputable NAIA program.
Pulvers arrived on campus in January 2006 with the challenging task of building both the men's and women's inaugural soccer teams for the 2006 season. Pulvers quickly assembled a diverse group of talent from area club teams and junior colleges. Pulvers led the Cougars through a season that started disappointingly slow, but finished with great promise. After a rough 1-6-0, Pulvers led the team to a 6-2-1 finish, ending the season at 7-8-1. Five of the eight losses were by one goal and two of those results occurred in extra time.
Prior to arriving at CSUSM, Pulvers was the head men's coach at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., compiling a record of 126-70-14 in ten seasons. Pulvers led the Wildcats to five Heart of America Athletics Conference (HAAC) championships, two Midwest Region titles, and three consecutive appearances at the NAIA National Tournament. While at BU, Pulvers coached 35 All Conference players, 13 All Americans, and 14 Academic All Americans. Pulvers was named the HAAC Coach of the year in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. Pulvers was also named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2002.
Pulvers played at Westmont College in Santa Barbara and graduated in 1994 with a B.A. in Kinesiology. Pulvers earned a M.S. in Kinesiology at Midwestern State University, Tex. in 1996. Pulvers holds a USSF "A" License and an Advanced National Diploma from the NSCAA.
Pulvers resides in Carmel Valley and is married to Dr. Kim Pulvers. They have two boys, Miles (7) and Max (3).
