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Steve Welham
Steve Welham was hired as head coach of the University of New Hampshire women's soccer program on May 22, 2014 and since then the program has seen records fall and history made.
On May 3, 2022, then-Director of Athletics Marty Scarano announced that Welham signed a long-term contract extension.
“Steve has built a program that has, and will continue to, compete for the America East championship and the NCAA tournament,” Scarano said. “Additionally, our women’s soccer team is one of the best academic programs. We are delighted to have Steve Welham as our head coach for the long haul.”
The 2022 Wildcats captured the second America East Championship in program history.
** The 2020 season was played in Spring 2021
The Spring 2021 season began with four consecutive wins -- a feat that no previous team accomplished in program history -- and the Wildcats finished the abbreviated season perfect at home with five wins in five games at Wildcat Stadium. UNH shut out three of seven opponents and allowed more than one goal just once. New Hampshire qualified as a semifinalist for the America East tourney but had to opt out because of COVID-19 protocols.
The 2019 season saw UNH win 10 games and make the America East playoffs for a sixth consecutive season. This was also UNH’s second winning season in the last three years; before the Welham era began, the last winning season came in 2007. The Wildcats went 5-3 in conference play and reached their third semifinal in the last four years. UNH has proven to be a “bellwether” program in the conference as the team that has beaten the ‘Cats the past four seasons in postseason play has gone on to win the championship (2016 Albany 1-0, 2017 Stony Brook 1-0, 2018 Albany 1-0, 2019 Stony Brook 2-1). UNH also scored 28 goals (tied for 11th most in the program’s 35-year history), which is the most since 2007 in a single season (29). The ‘Cats also posted a very stingy defense yielding only 18 goals which is tied for 5th all time.
In 2014, Welham led the Wildcats to their first America East title in program history in his first year at the helm of the program as the No. 3 seed, the first program to win it all at that position. En route to the title game where UNH defeated Hartford, the 'Cats overcame back-to-back penalty kick shootouts in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds defeating Binghamton University and UMBC (first time in conference history). The conference championship automatically earned New Hampshire a NCAA Championship bid against the University of Connecticut where they eventually fell 2-0.
In his second season, the Wildcats narrowly missed a regular season championship by one game and also set new marks on the field and in the classroom. UNH scored the most goals since 2007 (25), won the TD Bank Classic for the first time in five years and reached the America East Playoffs for the second consecutive year. But it was in the classroom where the Wildcats really shined. The women's soccer team placed an astounding 25 of 28 players on the America East Academic Honor Roll (89.3%) for the fall of 2015 which was the highest total in any sport in the conference for either gender. The 'Cats also set the single highest semester team grade point average (Spring 2016) in women's soccer history with an impressive 3.54. To cap off the calendar year, the women's soccer program also recorded the highest team GPA (3.51) for the America East Conference for both the women's and men's soccer programs.
During the 2016 campaign, the Wildcats earned a third consecutive spot in postseason play. No. 4 New Hampshire took down No. 5 University of Maine on Oct. 27 at Bremner Field, 1-0, in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats then traveled to the University at Albany in the semifinals. That was the 10th time UNH played in the America East semifinals going back to 1994. The most recent was in the championship year of 2014, before that – 2007. UNH came agonizingly close to pushing overtime with a last second goal waived off. The Wildcats finished 2016 season with the best goal differential since 2007 (+1). The 'Cats finished the year with a goals per game average of 1.26 and a shots on goal percentage of 51.9. Through the first four games New Hampshire was undefeated with a 2-0-2 record including a TD Bank Classic Championship, for the second straight season, with a goal differential of +4. Junior Brooke Murphy headlined the awards with her second-straight America East Striker of the Year award and All-Conference First Team selection. The freshmen class was recognized by TopDrawerSoccer.com on the Top-50 Division I Recruiting Classes as an Honorable Mention. The team staked claim to the number one team in the fall season with a team GPA of 3.58 and a spring GPA of 3.59, which is believed to be the highest all time. The spring season marked three consecutive semesters that the Wildcats set program-record marks in the classroom. Overall, 26 of 28 athletes recorded at least a 3.0 or better in the fall and 25 of 27 in the spring. The 'Cats also had a perfect score of 1,000 in the NCAA APR report. Additionally, 17 athletes were on the Fall America East Commissioner's Honor Roll with a 3.5 or better GPA, which is the second most by any program in the America East across all sports (male or female).
The 2017 season saw new milestones for the Wildcats with Welham at the helm. They clinched their first #1 conference tournament seed since 2007, and won a share of the 2017 America East Regular Season title with an 11-6-1 overall record, 5-2-1 in conference. It was their first five-conference-win season since 2008 (5-3-0). The Wildcats met Stony Brook in the conference semi-finals at Bremner Field, but suffered their first home loss of the season to the eventual America East champs, 1-0. The Wildcats allowed just 0.94 goals per game, their lowest since 2007, beating out the 2004 season by 0.01 goals per game. The Wildcats have also had their highest goal differential since 2007 at +0.45 goals per game. Their season start of 3-0-0 was their best since 1991, on the way to their best non-conference record in program history (6-3-0). The 2017 season also saw the program’s second-ever six-game winning streak, their first since 1988. Senior Brooke Murphy broke the program record for career goals (38) with 43 and points (88) with 97, and senior Mia Neas was named the 2017 America East Goalkeeper of the year; Welham and his staff were awarded the 2017 America East Co-Coaching Staff of the year award.
In 2018 the Wildcats made the America East tournament for the fifth straight season, and have not missed the tournament since the Welham Era began. The 2018 Wildcats touted an impressive 4-3-2 road record, including the program's first modern-day victory over a power-five program, defeating Arizona State by a score of 2-1 in September. The Wildcats were also 4-1-2 in overtime in the 2018 campaign. The Wildcats secured the #6 seed in the America East tournament, falling to the eventual tournament champion UAlbany. Three Wildcats posted perfect 4.0 GPAs and 16 made the America East Commissioner's Honor Roll, the most of any UNH fall sport; the team won its eighth straight United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award with a 3.45 team GPA.
Welham entered Wildcat Country after spending eight seasons at Stony Brook University. From 2006-08, he served as an assistant coach until being promoted to the level of associate head coach in 2009. While with the Seawolves, Welham’s primary responsibilities included working with goalkeepers and the back defensive line as well as running and assisting with full-team training sessions. He also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
In 2013, Welham helped Stony Brook earn a share of the America East regular season title after posting a conference mark of 6-2-0 to go along with an overall record of 11-6-2 (2013 America East finalists). Under Welham’s tutelage, goalkeeper Ashley Castanio was named to the 2013 NSCAA All Region Third Team, named 2013 America East Goalkeeper of the Year, an All-Conference First Team selection, and named to the All-Tournament Team. This was not first time Welham mentored an All-Region goalkeeper…Marisa Viola earned NSCAA All-Region honors in both 2007 & 2008 (in 2007 Viola recorded 10 clean sheets and along the way set the 7th longest shutout streak in NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer history – Viola was also the America East Goalkeeper of the year in 2008.) Both Castanio and Viola are among the two most decorated goalkeepers in Stony Brook University history. In 2012, the Seawolves captured their first America East championship and a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Stony Brook reached at least the semifinal round of the AE tournament in six out of the eight seasons with three championship game appearances.
Prior to Stony Brook, Welham spent two seasons (2004-05) at Boston University as the assistant coach/goalkeeper coach of the men’s squad. In his first season, the Terriers took home the America East regular season championship, the America East title and defeated Dartmouth College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The championships he picked up at Boston University, Stony Brook University, and now at UNH makes Welham the only coach in the history of the America East conference to have won both the America East regular season and America East postseason conference championship on both the men’s and the women’s side (2004, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017 & 2022).
Welham spent the 2003 season as an assistant coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. (men's squad). There, his responsibilities included goalkeeper training, video analysis, scouting, recruiting and fundraising. The Mariners advanced to the Skyline Conference championship match in his one season and were ranked as high as sixth in the nation.
Welham, a 1999 magna cum laude graduate of Seton Hall University with a degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology, achieved dean’s list status a total of seven times. He was a member of the Big East Academic All-Star Team as a freshman, sophomore and junior and was named the Seton Hall University Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior. Welham was also the recipient of the Seton Hall Merit Scholarship. He received his master’s degree in Counseling with a specialization in Sport Psychology in May 2003 from Boston University.
Welham played professionally with the South Jersey Barons of the United Soccer League (2000-2001), was invited to try out with the New York/New Jersey MetroStars of Major League Soccer (2001) and was invited to preseason camp for the Philadelphia KiXX of the Major Indoor Soccer League (2000 and 2001).
Welham is equipped with an NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, an NSCAA National Goalkeeping Diploma (Level III) and the United States Soccer Federation National “A” Coaching License. He was also a member of the U.S. Youth Soccer Region I goalkeeping staff and was heavily involved with Eastern New York ODP for 5 years where he led two teams to the ODP Regional Championship game. Welham is a former member of the U.S. National Scouting Staff for Goalkeepers and the USSF National Scouting Staff (2010–2013) where he worked with Mike Dickey and Kazbek Tambi in the NY/NJ US Soccer Training Centers. In the summer of 2010, Welham was invited to observe the U15 US Girls National Team Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA.
A member of the NSCAA Coaching Association, Welham is also a noted author who has published five articles pertaining to sports psychology and soccer in the NSCAA Soccer Journal and one of his articles “Just Play!” was recently published in The Best of the Soccer Journal: The Art of Coaching (January 2015)…an article he dedicated to his late HS Soccer Coach and Mentor (Rob Myslik) who played collegiately at Princeton University and taught high school English.
Since the rebranding of the North Atlantic Conference to America East in 1996, the UNH Wildcats have qualified for postseason play 25 times and that includes a conference record streak of 12 consecutive years spanning 2001-12. UNH has made 15 semifinal appearances (1996, 1998, 2002-07, 2014, 2016-17, 2019-22), five conference championship game appearances (1998, 2007, 2014, 2021 & 2022) and won the tournament title twice (2014 & 2022); the Wildcats won the regular-season title twice (2007, 2017) and shared the crown once (2004). New Hampshire was a semifinalist in the North Atlantic Conference inaugural tournament in 1995.
Program Insight
UNH has proven to be the “bellwether” team in the America East Post Season Conference Tournament for the past 7 years. In the two prior years of Welham’s tenure (2014 & 2015) UNH won the Championship in 2014 and were defeated in Penalty Kicks by Maine in 2015 who lost in the semi-finals.
From 2016-2021 who has ever beaten the ‘Cats in AE Post Season Play has won the America East Post Season Championship.
2016 – Albany (Semi-Finals, 0-1) 2017 – Stony Brook (Semi-Finals, 0-1) 2018 – Albany (Quarterfinals, 0-1) 2019 – Stony Brook (Semi-Finals, 1-2) 2020 – No Fall Season (COVID) 2021* (Spring) - Withdrew COVID – would have faced Stony Brook in Semi-Final who won Championship 2021 (Fall) – Vermont (Final, 0-1) 2022 – UNH (Champions)
What they are Saying About Coach Welham:
Mimi Borkan, UNH '17
2014 America East Tournament MVP on the Program's First Championship Team
"Coach Welham is deeply committed to developing his players both on and off the field. His intense knowledge of, and passion for the game helps players grow on a daily basis."
Caroline Murray, UNH '15
First professional Women's Soccer Player in Program History (Formerly at Sudet - Finland, Now at FH - Iceland)
"Coach Welham played a big role in helping me realize and reach my goal of playing professional soccer. He knows how to bring the best out of his players. I became a better player, but more importantly a better person after playing for him. I don't think you could find a coach who cares more about his players. His positivity, passion and belief in his players is what sets him apart. He is still a great source of support for me and I'm very grateful for that. He has already done great things for the program and the future looks bright."
Sue Ryan, Former Head Coach, Stony Brook University Women’s Soccer
Former US Youth National Team Coach (U-20's, U-17's and U-15's)
Current NSCAA Coaching Educator
"Steve was a loyal, dedicated and hard working member of our Stony Brook women's soccer staff for eight years. He had a wonderful impact on the lives of many student athletes."
Nancy Feldman, Former Head Coach, Boston University Women’s Soccer
Current United Soccer Coaches Coaching Educator
“Steve has established himself as a respected professional in the collegiate coaching ranks. A student of the game, he has both the passion and enthusiasm for coaching and recruiting and knows what it takes to build an America East Championship caliber team, having been instrumental in putting one together at Stony Brook.”
Neil Roberts, Former Head Coach, Boston University Men’s Soccer
"I am happy for UNH and Steve and I knew it was only a matter of time before Steve got an opportunity. UNH gets a high character and high quality coach and this is definitely a great opportunity for him. It is an exciting time for UNH."
Kazbek Tambi, Former U.S. U-17 National Team Coach (World Cup Finalist), Former Seton Hall University Women’s Soccer Head Coach
"UNH is extremely lucky to have Steve take on the leadership of this program. Steve's knowledge, experience, work ethic and passion for the game will serve to propel the program to new heights."
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