Valdosta State University

Valdosta State University Athletics
1500 North Patterson St. Valdosta, GA 31698

Division 2 Georgia Southeast

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Stephen Andrew

Stephen Andrew begins his seventh year at the helm of the Blazers. Andrew is 50-40-7 at VSU and 40-26-5 in the Gulf South Conference in six seasons. He has guided the red and black to four-straight conference tournament appearances, including a semifinal appearance in 2017. Andrew is entering his 17th season overall of coaching as he is 190-95-16 all-time with stops prior to VSU at Piedmont for nine seasons and Huntingdon for one.

In fall 2021, the Blazers finished the season with an 11-7-1 record and clinched berths into both the GSC and the NCAA postseason tournaments. VSU finished the year with 39 goals and had 117 shots on goal. The Blazers' berth in the NCAA postseason was the fourth overall in the history of the program and first since 2014.

The shortened 2021 season saw the Blazers go 3-2-2 and 3-0-2 in GSC play and bowing out in the quarterfinals of the GSC Spring Series Championship 3-2 to West Alabama.

Andrew led a resurgence of the Blazers in 2017 as he guided the team to a 10-6-3 record in 2017, marking a nine-win improvement from 2016 as the team was 1-11-5 in 2016. Prior to Andrew's arrival in January of 2017, VSU was just 5-21-8 in the previous two seasons. The 2017 season saw Andrew and the Blazers post the program's fourth season of double-digit wins since the program began in 2011. That season, the Blazers finished second in the GSC and 17th nationally in scoring offense at 2.47 goals per game, while ranking 22nd nationally and second in the league in points per game at 6.43 per match. VSU was second in the league in total goals with 47 for 24th nationally as the team combined for just 26 goals the previous two seasons before Andrew arrived.

He had three players earn all-conference honors in 2017 as Taylor Snell, Riley Tennant and Phoebe Palmer all were honored, while Andrew was tabbed Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year. All three players also earned all-region honors in 2017 and Suvi Savolainen was named to the all-academic team for the conference. Snell and Tennant each had outstanding seasons for the Blazers and began to set their marks on the school record book.

In 2018, the Blazers went 11-7 and 9-4 in conference play, finishing tied for third in the league standings. Junior Ashley Lewis had an outstanding season earning all-region honors, while becoming the all-time leader in goals scored in a season and career. She also is the all-time points leader in school history. Lewis earned second team all-conference honors, along with Tennant, while sophomore Lexie Hall earned first team all-conference accolades and all-region honors. Lewis and Savolainen were named to the all-academic team, while Savolainen earned third team Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Nationally speaking, Lewis led the conference and was 15th in game winning goals in 2018 with six.

This past season, Andrew led VSU to an 11-7 record and a 9-4 mark in the GSC. The Blazers dropped a heartbreaking, double overtime 1-0 loss at Lee in the conference tournament in the 109th minute of the contest. Despite the loss, Andrew tallied his third-straight double-digit win season for the Blazers for the first time in program history and the sixth overall double-digit win season in the nine year history of the program. Andrew watched both Lewis and Tennant conclude outstanding careers as they are atop the school record book in most offensive areas.

During his time at VSU, he has coached nine all-conference selections, two GSC All-Tournament selections, one Academic All-America honoree, seven all-region honorees and five GSC All-Academic selections.

Andrew was named the head coach of the Valdosta State soccer program in January 2017. He was named the Great South Conference Coach of the Year and was inducted into the Piedmont College Athletic Hall of Fame during an eventful 2011 year, and he led his teams to NSCAA Team Academic Awards during each of his nine seasons. The 2011 year saw Andrew guide Piedmont to a 17-3-1 record and the first of four conference titles and NCAA postseason appearances. Andrew had double-digit wins each of his nine seasons at Piedmont and has won 10 or more games in 11 of his 12 seasons of coaching.

He began his career at Huntingdon College in 2007 and promptly led his team to the Great South Athletic All-Conference quarterfinals on the field. In addition, the team thrived off the field and netted an NSCAA Team Academic Award. The success resulted in a transition to Piedmont one year later, which kicked off a nine-year career that included an extensive list of honors. The Lions won the 2016 USA South Conference Championship in 2016 for the fourth conference championship during Andrew’s tenure, and the program appeared in the NCAA Division III National Tournament four times.

Prior to the start of his coaching career, the Falkirk, Scotland, native, made three appearances on the U-17 Scottish National team before making a transition to Piedmont, where he set school records for career goals (113) and goals in a season (33). During his playing career as a Lion, he won three conference championships and was named conference Player of the Year during four seasons. Andrew was a graduate assistant at Piedmont from 2004-2006 prior to his first head job at Huntingdon College.

Andrew earned his bachelor's degree in sports marketing from Piedmont College in 2004 and earned a MBA in managerial leadership from Piedmont in 2006.