Virginia Commonwealth University

Richmond, VA 232843013

Virginia Northeast

Public Very Large Developing team

I'm interested in this program!

Coaches

Email coach

Lindsey Martin

Lindsey Martin enters her 11th season at the helm of the VCU Women’s soccer program in 2023 after taking the position on May 30, 2013. The Virginia native is the sixth head coach in the 28-year history of the program and has proven to be one of the top young coaches in the nation.

Martin was named the 2021 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after the Rams won the A-10 regular season championship with a 13-4-0 overall record and a 9-1-0 mark in conference play, VCU's first conference crown since joining the league in 2012. VCU also tied a program record with nine straight wins from Sept. 19-Oct. 21.

Martin’s teams have earned an overall record of 90-56-20 including a 49-24-11 mark in conference play. The Rams showed improvement right away under Martin, going .500 in her first season and then quickly jumping to a .625 winning percentage in her second season.

VCU has tallied at least seven wins in every season with Martin leading the way, including in 2019 when the Rams posted a 9-6-3 overall record. In 2018, VCU Women's Soccer had its best season in program history. The Rams set a new school record for wins with a 16-4 overall record and a 9-1 record against Atlantic 10 competition en route to a No. 2 seed in the A-10 Tournament and a run to the 2018 conference championship game.

In the three seasons before that, Martin made positive strides with the program, leading the Rams to at least six conference victories twice and posting an impressive 11-win season in 2017.

Under Martin, the Rams have earned 27 All-Atlantic 10 honors. These honors include 10 First Team, 14 Second Team and three All-Rookie Team honorees. In addition, the program has had eight All-Academic Team member selection sunder Martin’s direction. Lana Golob and Emma Kershner were named the A-10 Defender and Midfielder of the Year, respectively, after a historic 2021 campaign.

Seven players have also appeared on the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State teams while seven more have made United Soccer Coaches All-East Region teams.

The frequency at which the Rams have placed freshmen on the A-10 All-Rookie Team speak to the excellent recruiting Martin and her staff have done over the last six years. Lana Golob, Lyndsey Gutzmer and Megan Dell each made the list under Martin.

"Lindsey was the clear choice as the best fit here at VCU," Director of Athletics Ed McLaughlin said. "She is a proven winner, both as a player and a coach. We are extremely excited about the future of our women's soccer program with Lindsey leading us to our goal of winning championships.”

Prior to her arrival at VCU, Martin spent two seasons as the head coach at Georgia Southern, where she guided the Eagles to their first Southern Conference Tournament title and an NCAA appearance.

During her two years in Statesboro, Ga., she accumulated a 17-19-7 record while rebuilding the Eagles from the bottom of the conference prior to her arrival to the program. The Eagles achieved more wins in Martin's first year than they had the previous two years combined. Prior to her time at GSU, she spent four seasons as an assistant at Hofstra, during which the program made two NCAA Tournament appearances and won a CAA Tournament championship and a regular season crown.

In addition to her success on the sidelines, Martin achieved success on the pitch as a player. She was a four-year standout at William & Mary, where she earned All-CAA First Team honors all four years, highlighted by being named the CAA Player of the Year in 2002, CAA Tournament MVP in 2001 and the CAA Rookie of the Year in 2000. She was the first player in conference history to achieve such a feat.

She was also named to the CAA's 25th Anniversary Women's Soccer team. All of her accolades came full circle in April of 2016, as she was inducted into the William & Mary Hall of Fame.

The Virginia native grew up in Chesapeake, VA, where she was a standout at Hickory High School. In June of 2015, she married Adam Martin and they have one daughter.

Email coach

Kelly Keelan

Kelly Keelan joined VCU Women's Soccer as an assistant coach ahead of the 2022 season.

“We are thrilled to have KK join our staff ahead of the 2022 season,” head coach Lindsey Martin said. “KK is a big-time addition for our program. She comes from a strong playing and coaching background, having coached on Darren Ambrose’s staff at Penn and Vanderbilt for a decade. She knows her stuff and will be able to jump right in and help lead our team.”

Keelan has over a decade of coaching experience at the Division I level, including the past seven years as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt. She helped guide the Commodores to SEC trophies in three consecutive seasons from 2018-20, claiming the 2018 SEC regular season crown, the 2019 SEC East title, and the 2020 SEC Tournament championship.

Vanderbilt won 78 games under the tutelage of Keelan, including over a dozen wins over ranked opponents. With a focus on coaching the Commodores’ goalkeepers and attack, Keelan tutored players like two-time All-American Haley Hopkins and standout goalie Sarah Fuller.

Prior to her time at Vanderbilt, Keelan spent the 2014 season as an assistant coach at Georgetown, guiding the Hoyas to the Big East championship game and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Goalkeeper Emma Newins was named All-Region and Second Team All-Big East after posting nine shutouts and a 1.19 goals-against average.

Keelan spent 2012 and 2013 as an assistant coach at Penn, where the Quakers recorded back-to-back winning seasons, including a 12-1-4 campaign in 2013. That season set a program record for fewest losses in a season, and Penn shut out 12 of its 17 opponents.

The Broomall, Pa., product started her coaching career with two seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio, where the Bobcats tied program records for fewest goals allowed (21) and shutouts (6) in 2010.

Keelan had a remarkable four-year playing career at George Mason, playing both goalkeeper and forward. As a junior in 2008, the All-Colonial Athletic Association selection and team captain led the Patriots in goals, points, saves, and shutouts. In 71 career games, including 40 starts, Keelan collected 21 goals, 11 assists, 58 saves, and a 1.39 goals-against average.

In addition to her career at GMU, Keelan also played with the Philadelphia Liberty of the WPSL (Women’s Premier Soccer League) and was a keeper in England’s U-19 National Pool in 2006. She also played for the Philadelphia Charge, a WUSA youth team, and on the West Chester United club team for seven years.

Keelan holds an NSCAA Premier National Coaching License and an NSCAA Goalkeeping Coaching License. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Health, Fitness and Recreation Management in May 2010 at George Mason, and then earned a Master’s of Science degree in coaching education at Ohio.

Email coach

Dave Giffard

Dave Giffard enters his 13th season at the helm of the VCU Men’s Soccer program in the fall of 2022, accumulating a 106-84-35 overall record with the Rams. During his tenure at VCU, Giffard has garnered many coaching honors. In addition to being named the 2018 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Giffard was also named one of the Top 10 coaches in college soccer by Top Drawer Soccer in 2016. In addition, Giffard was named the 2012 Virginia State Coach of the Year.

Under the direction of Giffard, VCU men’s soccer has soared to new heights. The Rams have been a force in the A-10, compiling a 49-18-16 conference record and making four appearances in the conference title game (2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017) and recently claiming the 2018 A-10 regular season title. Under Giffard, the Black & Gold have made three NCAA Tournament appearances (2012, 2013, 2017) including the #14 overall seed in 2012 and the #16 overall seed in 2017. The squad made it to the second round in both 2012 and 2017.

The Rams have gained national attention under Giffard, with at least one appearance in the national top-25 poll 10 of the last 11 seasons and more than 20 top-25 wins. He continually recruits some of the best players in the country to play in a VCU uniform. In the last nine years, VCU has had six top-25 recruiting classes, including four of the last five seasons.

Giffard has an impressive track record of developing young players who come to play under him. Recently, two VCU Men’s Soccer players have been ranked one of the nation’s Top-10 best players by Top Drawer Soccer. In 2018, Siad Haji was ranked the #8 player in the nation, and Rafael Andrade Santos was ranked #6 in 2017. Giffard has coached six student-athletes to All-American honors in Siad Haji, Juan Monge Solano, Rafael Andrade Santos, Dennis Castillo, Romena Bowie and Ulrik Edvardsen. Twenty-four of Giffard's players have been named United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) All-Region players. In addition to national honors, Giffard’s athletes continue to accumulate conference honors, including five Conference Players of the Year (Siad Haji, Rafael Andrade Santos, Dennis Castillo, Jason Johnson, Celio Pompeu) and 53 All-Conference players.

Since he started coaching in 1999, Giffard has been a pipeline to the pros, with more than 150 of his athletes having gone on to play professionally. In his time at VCU, more than 40 of Giffard’s players have gone on to the pro ranks. His former athletes have played in leagues in the United States, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Sweden and Costa Rica to name a few. In the last ten years, VCU has had eight MLS Draft Picks. In 2020, Ryo Shimazaki was selected in the 3rd round and 59th overall by The Columbus Crew. In the 2019 draft, Siad Haji was selected #2 overall by the San Jose Earthquakes. Haji is the highest draft pick ever out of VCU in any sport and tied with Marcus Camby for the highest draft pick of any sport in the A-10. Other draft picks from VCU include Jason Johnson, Dennis Castillo, Dakota Barnathan, Juan Arbelaez, Kharlton Belmar and Rafael Andrade Santos.

Since 2013, VCU is one of only 12 schools that has had multiple Generation Adidas contracts. VCU joins Syracuse, Akron, North Carolina, Indiana, UCLA, Maryland, Louisville, Wake Forest, Creighton, St. Louis and UCF in this category. Last winter, Celio Pompeu became the third Ram to leave school early to sign with Major League Soccer and was allocated to the league's newest expansion team, St. Louis City.

Not only does Giffard develop his student athletes on the field, but also in the classroom. The VCU Men’s Soccer GPA is consistently over 3.0, earning them multiple United Soccer Coaches academic awards. In the last nine years, VCU has boasted a perfect Academic Performance Rating of 1,000 five times.

VCU Men’s Soccer has been heavily involved in the community participating in events such as Celebrate RVA, Team Impact, Prism Soccer Camp, and Feed More.

Giffard holds a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from MacMurray College and a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from UAB. Giffard also serves as a scout for US Soccer. He resides in Glen Allen with his wife Marisa, son Regan and daughter Reese.

Email coach

Brett Teach

Entering his 13th season with the Rams, Brett Teach has been instrumental in elevating VCU to a national stage.

After serving as the head coach at Tusculum College, Teach has helped the Rams to a 106-84-35 record that has involved national rankings, as high as eighth in the country, and three NCAA Tournament appearances.

VCU has developed more than 30 players who have received professional contracts during Teach’s time at VCU thus far and multiple MLS draft picks, including Jason Johnson, Kharlton Belmar, Dennis Castillo, Rafael Andrate Santos, Siad Haji and Ryo Shimazaki. In addition, Teach has assisted in coaching 53 players to All-Conference honors.

“We are very excited that Brett is part of our staff here at VCU,” said Head Coach Dave Giffard. “He had a tremendous amount of success as a head coach over the last 20-plus years. Building a championship staff is just like putting together a championship team, and we took a big step in that direction the day we hired Brett. With players, and staff alike, we try to find the most talented, hard-working people possible, and Brett certainly epitomizes the type of person we want to associate with our program.”

Teach took Tusculum to a 41-18-5 record over three years that included back-to-back conference championships and back-to-back SAC Coach of the Year awards. In 2008, he took them to the Elite Eight, and Tusculum finished the regular season ranked seventh in Division II.

Prior to taking the reigns at Tusculum, Teach reached extraordinary levels of success at NAIA Auburn University at Montgomery. Piling up a 139-12-6 record over seven years, Teach led AUM to three NAIA National Runner-Up finishes, four Final Four appearances and five Elite Eight performances.

In the spring of 2015, Teach was inducted into the AUM Hall of Fame, after transforming the program into a national contender.

Teach has also spent time as a head coach at Georgia State, Oglethorpe and Erskine Universities, and has amassed a 375-208-28 overall record as a college head coach. Spending ten years coaching women’s soccer, Teach has a 270-141-19 record coaching on the men’s side.

During his successful career, Teach has been named Conference Coach of the Year nine times. He has also received NAIA Region XII Coach of the Year and NAIA South Region Coach of the Year on four occasions, while earning NSCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors in 2008 and NAIA National Coach of the Year accolades in 2000.

A four-year starting goalkeeper at NAIA King College, Teach helped his team to an 18-2 record and a NAIA Tournament Berth in 1984. He was named as an All-American that season. He brings his background filled with success with him to VCU.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of VCU Soccer,” Teach said. “I believe very strongly in the vision that Coach Giffard and the athletic department have set for men’s soccer, and I certainly feel that I can help contribute. It is fun to be a part of such an energetic and enthusiastic staff, and build off of the energy and positive experiences I had at my other stops. I feel very strongly that VCU creates unique and special experiences for the players and the staff.”

He received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science/History from King in 1986 and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in the spring of 2008.

Email coach

Lucas Paulini

A former VCU standout, Lucas Paulini enters his fourth season as an Assistant Coach for the Rams in 2022. VCU has compiled a 20-18-7 record in that time, with a 13-6-3 mark in Atlantic 10 play.

In 2021, VCU received votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll for 11 straight weeks, and reached as high as No. 12 in the rankings. The Rams recorded three wins over ranked teams, and Celio Pompeu earned A-10 Midfielder of the Year honors.

Before returning to Richmond, Paulini spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Houston Baptist Univeristy. While with the Huskies, Paulini helped guide the program to 17 wins.

Prior to joining HBU, Paulini spent two seasons at Virginia Commonwealth University as the Director of Operations where he assisted in planning and conducting daily training sessions, film breakdown and scouting report development.

Paulini, who was the first Ram to sign a professional contract under head coach Dave Giffard, signed with the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2011, making his debut on April 9 against NSC Minnesota Stars. He played four seasons in Atlanta. After just one season with VCU, Paulini earned CAA All-First Team honors. He also earned All-Region recognition in each of his four collegiate seasons, after being a three-time honoree at Tusculum College.