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Ben Sohrabi
Through 2022 Season / 28th Season at Radford
At Radford: 285-191-44 Overall, 132-78-23 Big South
Career: Same
Ben Sohrabi is entering his 28th season as the head coach of the Radford women’s soccer program.
Coach Sohrabi has proven to be the most successful coach in the history of the Big South. He ranks first in overall wins, conference wins, winning percentage, tournament victories, tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in league history. He also sits first in overall winning percentage (min. 50 games), longest tenured and third in Big South Tournament percentage (min. 10 games).
His personal accolades include 2002, 2011, 2013 and 2018 Big South Coach of the Year honors and a pair of VaSID Coach of the Year nods (1997, 2008).
Sohrabi, who has been at the helm since 1996, stands as the only coach in Radford women’s soccer history to post 100 or more wins and 10 seasons of 10 or more victories, including four of 15 or more. Among current Radford head coaches, Sohrabi has the most Big South tournament titles and holds the record across all athletics program’s overall mark with eight. Of the program’s 130 Big South wins since 1993, the most among conference schools all-time, 120 have come on Sohrabi’s watch.
In his 27 seasons on the sidelines, Sohrabi has guided 143 All-Big South performers, 13 players of the year, five freshmen of the year, 46 state team selections and 25 academic all-conference honorees.
Sohrabi has won five Big South Tournament Championships (2011, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2022) since 2010 in which those five seasons saw some impressive numbers. Along with five championships, the Highlanders earned a share of the regular season title in 2010 & 2011 and won it outright in 2018. Radford posted 54 shutouts, including a Big South record 14 in 2012, won the program’s 300th match (Sept. 29 at UNCA) and went undefeated in the league regular season for the second time in program history. Add to that, Radford rode a 17-match unbeaten streak (13-0-4), which at the time was tied for second longest with then-No. 4 BYU, into the 2012 NCAA Tournament and finished the season tied for the sixth longest (UCLA & Marquette) unbeaten streak in the NCAA.
It was a clean sweep in 2018 when Sohrabi led the team to a Big South Regular Season Title, a Big South Tournament Title and an NCAA Tournament Appearance. The squad posted a 16-3-1 overall record, which included an .825 winning percentage – both tied for program bests. The team posted a 8-0-1 record at home, which was the sixth undefeated home season in program history.
The 2018 team was heavily led by a strong senior class that included the Big South Attacking Player of the Year Jasmine Casarez. She ranked inside the top 40 in seven national categories, including game-winning goals (3rd), shots per game (4th), goals (17th), shots on goal per game (25th), total points (27th), goals per game (29th) and points per game (40th). Casarez also notched four multi-goal matches, including a hat trick.
A late run in the 2019 Big South Tournament propelled the team to earn its seventh Big South Tournament Title in program history, which is the most of any Big South school. The Highlanders won back-to-back tournament titles for the second time in school history and the 16 wins tied a single-season record. The 2019 season is the first time Radford has ever tallied 16 wins in two consecutive years. A huge part of the 2019 squad was Kayla Thomas, who claimed the Big South Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Another late run in the 2022 Big South Season and Tournament propelled the team to earn its eighth Big South Tournament Title in program history, extending their record. Facing elimination from the shortened four-team tournament field, Radford rattled off three straight shutout victories to end the regular season outscoring opponents 9-0. Not stopping there, the Highlanders shutout their semifinals and championship opponent to claim the tournament title and clinch a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Student-athletes have excelled in the classroom during Sohrabi’s tenure as well. The team has consistently been awarded the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award and several individuals have stood out as well. Jessica Wollmann (2017 & 2018) and Rachel Conway (2013) both became CoSIDA Academic All-Americans while Wollmann was the first to be placed on a United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region team in 2017 as well. Wollmann was also named among 30 candidates for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award by the NCAA. Wollmann went on to win the Big South Conference’s Prestigious Christenberry Award and was named the Virginia Collegiate Council Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2018. In 2023, Saleena Lynch was named as one of the three Big South athletes to be a recipient of the McCloskey Graduate Fellowship award.
All four titles from 2010-19 were predicated by defense. If you include 2010, the Highlanders recorded 36 shutouts from 2010-12 thanks in large part to a defensive unit keyed by Big South Defensive Players of the Year, keeper Che’ Brown (2010 & 2012), central defender Tyler Drake (2011), and back-line defender Kayla Thomas (2019).
Each year, the squads added to their shutout total from the previous season, charting 10, 12 and a Big South-record 14 in 2012. Brown was present for 27 of those, setting a new career mark that was held by RU Hall of Famer Peggy Poore (1982-85). To put the numbers behind it, Radford generated season-high six-match shutout streaks in 2011 and 2012. During those streaks, the Highlanders kept opponents off the scoreboard for stretches of 658:42 in 2011 and 660:07 in 2012.
Sohrabi engineered one of finest seasons in program history in 2012 (14-3-4), which saw Radford go undefeated in regular season Big South play (7-0-4), as well as Cupp Stadium (8-0-2) for the first time in program history. The Highlanders posted seven shutouts and allowed just three goals (0.28 GAA), ending the season on a 583:57 shutout streak.
In 2011, Radford tallied a then-school-record 12 shutouts and won its first six league games by way of a clean sheet, also a Big South record. The 15 overall wins were the second most in program history and the eight conference wins stood as a new school record. His 2010 squad also finished with four First Team All-Big South selections (the most since 1993).
In the 2010 home opener, an 8-0 rout of Southern Virginia, Sohrabi broke the tie with UNC Asheville’s Michelle Cornish for most overall wins (231) during a Big South tenure - he now stands at 161. With Radford’s five Big South wins in 2009, Sohrabi became the most successful coach in Big South history with 47 to his credit at the time.
Sohrabi and the Highlanders started their run with a remarkable 2008 season. Finishing with a 14-2-6 mark, the Highlanders dropped just one regular-season match and two the entire campaign, both program bests on the way to a third Big South championship and NCAA Tournament appearance at Duke.
Two factors that attributed to the Highlanders’ success were the work away from home as well as their defense. Radford posted the first undefeated road record (5-0-3) in program history and recorded a goals-against average (0.94) under 1.00 for the first time since 1997.
In 2006, Sohrabi became the program’s all-time winningest coach and reached the 100-victory mark as the Highlander boss. On Sept. 23, Radford defeated Charleston Southern, 3-2, for his 98th win at RU, which surpassed Don Staley (1985-93). He notched his 100th Radford victory on Oct. 8 with a 4-0 win at South Carolina State.
Another milestone moment in Sohrabi’s career came in a special place: in 2004, he notched his 100th career win at Maryville, as the Highlanders shut out Sohrabi’s alma mater 4-0 on Sept. 7, 2004. The victory brought Radford’s record to 3-1 that season and the Highlanders went on to their fifth 10-win season under Sohrabi.
place: in 2004, he notched his 100th career win at Maryville, as the Highlanders shut out Sohrabi’s alma mater 4-0 on Sept. 7, 2004. The victory brought Radford’s record to 3-1 that season and the Highlanders went on to their fifth 10-win season under Sohrabi.
In 2002, Sohrabi’s Highlanders opened up the season winning nine of their first 10 games, rolling to a 15-5-1 record, the second highest win total in school history. Radford outscored its opponents (Charleston Southern, High Point, UNC Asheville) 10-1 in the Big South tournament to claim a second title and second NCAA Tournament appearance in his tenure.
This time, the draw for the Highlanders wasn’t a short trip to face an in-state team in the NCAA’s: instead, Radford was sent to face storied North Carolina, the winningest program in Division I women’s soccer history and eventual national semi-finalists in 2002. That season, Sohrabi earned Big South Coach of the Year honors and had five of his players named to all-conference teams, including league player of the year Nikki Porter, who garnered the award in back-to-back seasons for the first time in league history.
With a third-straight 10-win season in 1999, Sohrabi’s Highlanders went 13-5-1 while posting the program’s first Big South regular season title at 6-0-0 (one of three teams to go undefeated in league play since 1999).
Following a VaSID Coach of the Year nod in 1997, a perfect regular season home mark (8-0) and the program’s most First Team All-Big South selections ever (4), Sohrabi and his team returned in 1998 to claim their first-ever Big South title and second NCAA Tournament appearance. After going 3-4 to close out the regular season, Radford posted three clean sheets and netted six Big South tournament goals en route to its first conference crown, and a first round NCAA meeting with in-state foe James Madison.
Sohrabi earned his first Highlander win with a 9-1 rout of Chattanooga at home on Sept. 28.
From there, Sohrabi led the turnaround of a program that won just four games in 1995 and five in his first season, to one that posted the most wins in team history in 1997. That 16-win campaign still holds up as the most wins for a Radford sode and the three losses were tied for the fewest in the Division I era until the mark was bested in 2008.
Before his arrival at Radford, Sohrabi served as head coach at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn. Sohrabi led Lambuth to a 19-16-2 record in only two seasons after taking over a program in disarray. In 1995, he guided the Eagles to a 16-4-2 record and their first national ranking, 27th overall.
A 1992 graduate of Maryville College, Sohrabi was a standout from 1988-91, earning All-South honors in 1991. From 1992-93, he served as executive director of the professional Nashville Metros in the U.S. Indoor Soccer League. He then returned to his alma mater as the assistant men’s and women’s coach from 1993-94. Sohrabi also played semi-pro soccer for six seasons.
In October of 2009, Sohrabi was inducted into Maryville College’s Wall of Fame.
Coach Sohrabi and his wife Dee reside with their son Tyler in Giles County.
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1998, 2002, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2022
Big South Tournament Championships: 1998, 2002, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2022
Big South Regular Season Titles: 1999, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2018
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