Marci Miller named head coach at NIU

http://www.smumustangs.com/news/news_release.asp?ID=4647

DeKalb, Ill. - Former SMU women's soccer standout Marci Miller has been selected as head coach of the Northern Illinois University women's soccer program, as announced by the University on Tuesday. Miller becomes the program’s second head coach. She played as a member of the SMU women's soccer team in 1996 and 1997 and earned First-Team All-Western Athletic Conference accolades. She was also named the Mountain Division’s Player of the Year. SMU was 11-6-4 during her 1996 junior campaign and compiled a 17-5-1 ledger in 1997 when the season ended in an NCAA second-round loss to UCLA. As a midfield starter in all 44 career games at SMU, Miller compiled 51 points off 21 goals and nine assists.

The selection of Miller, a current candidate for the United States National Team and a former WUSA playing professional originally from St. Charles, was announced as the head of Huskie women’s soccer by NIU Athletics Director Jim Phillips. Earlier this year, Phillips also succeeded in hiring Northern Illinois Hall of Famer and ex-University of Notre Dame associate coach Carol Owens to revitalize the Huskie women’s basketball program.

“We’re extremely excited to have such a great role model for our student-athletes as Marci Miller to lead our women’s soccer program,” Phillips insisted. “This is an individual who personifies our goal of providing a world-class experience to student-athletes. Whether it be her illustrious playing resume from the local to the professional and even international arena, or her familiarity and strong recruiting contacts with the many outstanding club programs, to her coaching experiences, Marci has the energy, enthusiasm, knowledge and passion for the game which will help our student-athletes grow. To us, she represents the total package of who we’re looking for to lead our program.

“Everyone we spoke with gave astonishing recommendations based on her personality, work ethic, and love of the game. Her ties to local high school and club coaches repeatedly reinforced how fortunate we were to have her choose to join our program over other opportunities,” Phillips added.

The 29-year-old Miller expects to log a week’s worth of work in four days when she begins her assignment on June 15. That hectic pace is a result of having to report to Charlottesville, VA, on June 19 to take part in the United States National Team’s selection camp which culminates on June 26 with a match against the Canadian National Team in Virginia Beach. Regardless of whether she has to continue to balance national team appearances with her Huskie duties, Miller is widely hailed as a standout selection to replace Frank Horvat, the program’s pioneer coach who chose to resign on April 4.