Coaches

Brian Bahl

Brian Bahl was named head coach of the Minnesota State women’s soccer program in the spring of 2013, becoming the fourth head coach in the program’s history. Coach Bahl finished his 10th season leading the Mavericks in fall of 2022. In his 10 years with the Purple and Gold, the two-time NSCAA Central Region Coach of the Year and 2015 NSIC Coach of the Year has amassed an overall record of 161-23-20, including appearances in the NCAA Tournament during each year of his tenure…2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 seasons. The 2020 NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19. His record against Northern Sun Conference competition is 115-9-11.


During the 2013 season, the Mavericks boasted a 17-3-2 overall record, including a 13-1-1 mark in NSIC action. The 2013 season also saw MSU claim both the NSIC regular season and tournament championships for the first time in program history. Minnesota State was awarded the region’s top seed in the NCAA Tournament where it was eliminated in the second round.


The 2014 season proved to be one for the record books as the Mavericks ended their season with a 22-1 record, including an unblemished 15-0 record in NSIC action. For the second straight season, the Mavericks claimed the NSIC regular season and tournament championships as they once again advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they would fall to Central Missouri in overtime in the “Sweet 16”.


The 2015 season saw the Mavericks once again go undefeated in conference play with a 14-0-1 record and claim yet another regular season conference championship. The Mavericks advanced to the “Sweet 16” in the NCAA Tournament and finished with a record of 18-2-2.


In 2016, the Mavericks fielded one of the youngest teams in the nation and capped the season off by winning another NSIC Tournament Championship and earned a trip to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. The Mavericks finished with a record of 16-3-3.


In 2017, the Mavericks once again claimed both the NSIC regular season and tournament championships. The Mavericks were selected as a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament and concluded the season with a 17-2-3 record.


The 2018 season saw the Mavericks collect the second most wins in program history after boasting a record of 19-3-1 record, including a 13-1-1 finish in the NSIC. After the second place finish in the regular season, the Mavericks went on to win their third straight NSIC Tournament Championship. Minnesota State advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament after being selected as a #4 seed. Bahl also won his 100th game at Minnesota State during the 2018 season with a 3-1 at Concordia-St. Paul on Oct. 9.


In 2019, The Mavericks had 19 wins for the second straight season, which is tied for second most in program history. The final record for the year was 19-4-1 with a 12-3 conference record, good for second in the regular season. MSU started the season out with five consecutive shutouts, including wins over then-No. 4 Central Missouri and then-No. 1 Grand Valley State in the same weekend at The Pitch. The Mavericks moved on to win their fourth consecutive NSIC Tournament Championship, earning the top seed for the central region. Minnesota State advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history with the first coming in the 2012 season.


The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In one official game during the spring of 2021, hosting Minot State at Scheels Field in the Maverick All-Sports Dome, the Mavericks knocked off the Beavers 3-0.


In 2021, after a rocky 3-2-1 start, the Mavericks rallied the remainder of the season while putting together a 17-game unbeaten streak, which saw MSU finish the campaign 18-3-2 with a 12-1-2 record in NSIC action for third in the conference standings. The season also featured a fifth consecutive NSIC Tournament Championship for the Mavericks, resulting in an automatic qualifier for the NCAAs, marking MSU's 10th consecutive and 15th overall trip to the NCAA Tournament. At the tournament, MSU won its first-round matchup against Oklahoma Baptist, 3-0, before a losing in the second round to then-#11 Central Missouri, 4-3, to conclude the season. During the 2021 season, Bahl also became the winningest coach in Maverick soccer history on Oct. 31, 2021, when he earned his 143rd victory, 2-0, in a match against Southwest Minnesota State at The Pitch to pass Chris Miskec on the school's all-time wins list.


The 2022 season saw the Mavericks claim their fifth NSIC regular-season championship under Bahl asthey posted an 11-0-4 NSIC record. MSU would go on to record 12 shutouts during the 2022 season, including five to end the regular season schedule. The Mavericks advanced to the semifinals of the NSIC Tournament, but a 0-0 (4-3 shootout loss) to Minot State ended MSU's bid for a sixth consecutive NSIC Tournament championship. The Mavericks would go on to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as they traveled to Bemidji, Minn. A second-half goal by the Mavericks would send its first-round match into overtime before Minnesota Stae prevailed 3-1 in a shootout. In the second round against Bemidji State, the Mavericks would go into overtime yet again, but it was BSU that was able to come away with the 4-2 win as Minnesota State finished its season with a 14-2-6 record.


In nine seasons, Bahl has seen 54 Mavericks claim All-NSIC honors, including 26 All-NSIC First Team selections. Bahl has has also seen the duo of Korey Kronforst (2013 & 2015) and Jenny Vetter (2019, 2021 & 2022) earn NSIC Offensive Player of the Year honors. Breanna Steel (2014) and Emily Erickson (2015) claimed NSIC Defensive Player of the Year, while Molly McGough (2014) and Mackenzie Rath (2022) were named the NSIC Goalkeeper of the Year. The Mavericks have also claimed 37 NSCAA/USC All-Central Region honors and 28 Daktronics/D2CCA All-Central Region honors during Bahl’s tenure at Minnesota State, to go along with multiple All-American accolades.


The 2013 season saw Kronforst become the first Maverick to receive Daktronics First Team All-American honors, while Tori Meinhardt received CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team honors. Emily Moris was named to a pair of All-American teams in 2013 including the NSCAA All-American Third Team and the NSCAA Scholar All-American Third Team.


The All-American accolades continued to roll in during the 2014 season as four Mavericks combined for nine All-American awards. Steele would go on to receive three All-American awards including NSCAA First Team All-American, NSCAA Scholar All-American and CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team honors. Moris received her second NSCAA Scholar All-American award to go along with NSCAA All-American First Team honors, while Kronforst claimed CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team and NSCAA Scholar All-American accolades. McGough also received NSCAA Scholar All-American and CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team honors as well.


All-American accolades rolled in again in 2015. Kronforst was named NSCAA 1st Team All-American, CCA/Daktronics 2nd Team All-American, NSCAA Scholar All-American, and CoSIDA Academic All-American. Kiana Nickel was named NSCAA 2nd Team All-American, CCA/Daktronics 3rd Team All-American and NSCAA Scholar All-American.


All-American accolades returned for the 2018 season as Dakota Wendell, earned multiple including 1st Team CoSIDA Academic All-America, 1st Team D2CCA All-American and 3rd Team USC Scholar All-American.


For the fourth time in seven years, Bahl saw two more of his student-athletes pick up All-American accolades after the 2019 season. Jenny Vetter was named to three All-American Teams including the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, the USC All-American First Team and the D2CCA All-American Second Team, while also being named the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year. Alesha Duccini was also named to two All-American Teams including the USC All-American Second Team and the USC Scholar All-American First Team.


In 2021, Bahl's tenure saw Vetter add three more All-American honors to her resume, including her third CoSIDA Academic All-American honor. With it being her third time collecting the award, Vetter became the first Maverick woman student-athlete to accomplish the feat and the second in school history, joining Jason Krug (Men's Hockey in 1996, 1997 & 1998).


In 2022, Vetter claimed USC All-American Third Team honors. She would also receive her fourth CoSIDA Academic All-American honor, becoming the first Maverick student-athlete in school history to do so. She was also named the CoSIDA Academic All-American DII Women's Soccer Player of the Year.


As a team, the Mavericks have also excelled in the classroom as 163 student-athletes have been named to the NSIC All-Academic Team during the last eight seasons. Nine Mavericks have also received the NSIC Myles Brand Award, which is bestowed to senior NSIC student-athletes boasting a 3.75 GPA. The Mavericks have also garnered six NSCAA/USC National Team Academic Awards under Bahl.


Prior to coming to MSU, Coach Bahl spent six seasons at the helm of both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Upper Iowa University. On the women’s side, the Peacocks qualified for five NSIC tournaments in that time and amassed 64 wins and 17 draws – the best stretch in the history of the program. His win-loss record in his six seasons as head coach of the women's soccer program at UIU was 64-42-17. Bahl ranks as the winningest coach in the history of both programs at UIU and the first coach in program history to win more than 100 games combined between the two programs.


Bahl’s 2012 Peacock women’s soccer team posted a record breaking 15-3-2 overall record and an 11-2-2 mark in NSIC action. The team’s total wins and conference wins established new season highs for the Peacocks as they finished third in the NSIC regular season standings. During the 2011 NSIC Tournament, UIU upset the No. 1 seed, but just missed making the finals as it fell in a shootout 6-5 after a 1-1 tie.


A total of 30 women were placed on the All-NSIC teams during Bahl's six seasons at UIU. Four of his players were named to the Daktronics All-Central Region team, and four more to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Region teams.


Before joining Upper Iowa, Bahl served as the assistant coach of the Northern Iowa women’s soccer team for two seasons and also served as the head coach of the women’s soccer team at Mount Mercy College for three seasons. Bahl also served as an assistant coach at Wartburg College and spent six seasons as the head coach of the boy’s soccer team at Waterloo West High School.


Bahl, who served as Executive Director/Director of Coaching for the FC Midwest Soccer Academy (U5-U18) from 2005-10, is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the United States Soccer Federation. Bahl holds a Premier Diploma from the NSCAA, along with a national coaching license from the USSF and an NSCAA goalkeeping diploma. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Iowa.


A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Brian and his wife, Jamie, have three children – Aubrey, Colten and Caden. They also have two dogs, Cooper and Coda.

Aaron Tilsen

Coach Tilsen enters his second year with the Mavericks in his new role as Assistant coach and Director of Recruiting/Scouting. In his tenure coaching MSU women’s soccer, he has been part of two regular season conference championships (2018, '22), three conference tournament championships (2016, ‘17, ’18), and four NCAA tournament runs (2016, ’17, ’18, ’22). The Mavericks have posted a record of 66-10-13 under his tutalage and Tilsen has coached All-Americans Abby Nordeen, Dakota Wendell, Alesha Duccini, and Jenny Vetter.


Previously, Coach Tilsen spent time as the Minnesota State's goalkeepers coach during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He helped Alexa Rabune put her name in the record books at MSU as she moved up to second in all-time wins (19), third in shutouts (12), seventh in saves (81), and ninth in goals against average (0.68). In her career, Rabune finished ranked fifth in wins (26), third in shutouts (18), seventh in saves (133), sixth in goals-against average (0.84), and seventh in save percentage (.811). The Mavericks finished the 2017 season third nationally in shutouts, fourth in goals against average, and eighth in save percentage.


That season, the Mavericks also had three all-region players and six all-conference players as well as six of the 11 players named to the all-tournament team. MSU also performed in the classroom, with 19 players named to the NSIC All-Academic Team.


Coach Tilsen brought NCAA head coaching experience to the staff, having served as head coach for Missouri Southern State University women's soccer. Under Tilsen's guidance, the Lions owned a 10-36-3 (5-21-1 MIAA) record over the course of three seasons from 2019-21.


During the 2020 season the Lions made their first appearance in the MIAA conference tournament since 2017 while earning a win over, No. 8 Central Missouri (3-2 OT). It was the Lions first victory over the Jennies since 2013 and the first home win in the matchup since 2005. Bailey Belcher was named a first-team All-MIAA forward and Rylie Johnson was a second-team All-MIAA defender. 16 Lions were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Rolls and Belcher was an MIAA Scholar-Athlete. Belcher, Johnson, and Laver were named to the USCA College Player Award of Distinction once again.


In the 2019 season, Southern had four All-MIAA Honorable Mention selections and placed four on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll. Lariah Boone, Maya Greenquist, Jori Hays and Banner Williams were MIAA Academic Excellence award winners for transfers/newcomers. Belcher, Johnson, and Riley Laver were recognized with the USCA College Player Award of Distinction.


Coach Tilsen also brings experience coaching semi-professional players. Former General Manager and Head Coach for Fire SC 98 in the WPSL (2018-2020). Tilsen compiled a roster with collegiate players from across the country. Fire SC 98 won franchise of the year for the North Conference and helped eight players transition from collegiate soccer to the professional ranks. Fire SC 98 finished second to the Chicago Red Stars reserves in the conference standings.


He spent over 25 years coaching youth and high school soccer in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. He served as Director of Coaching for the Twin Cities Fire Soccer Club and brings years of experience coaching and developing players. Additionally, Tilsen has over 15 years of high school experience including, Head Coach at Robbinsdale Cooper, Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony (girls) and Forest Lake (boys), as well as being an assistant coach at St. Paul Central, Park Center, and Bloomington Jefferson.


Tilsen obtained his USSF B license, NSCAA Premier and NSCAA GK level one and level two diplomas. He graduated Cum Laude from MSU in Spring 2017 with a BS in Sport Management and a Coaching Minor. He earned his MA from MSU in December 2018.


Tilsen and his wife Lisa have a son, Aidan, as well as dogs, Lucy, Ivy, and Wrigley, and cats, Molly and Tommy.

No Men's Soccer Program