Paul Royal enters his seventh season as Head Coach of the La Salle Women's Soccer program. The 1996 graduate of Wisconsin-Milwaukee became the fourth head coach of the program on April 25, 2003. In just six seasons at the helm of the program, Royal became the school's all-time wins leader when the Explorers defeated Massachusetts at McCarthy Stadium on October 24, 2008. He enters the 2009 campaign with 47 career wins at La Salle. Also during 2008, the Explorers posted a 9-8-3 overall record, just the seventh winning season at the school in its 23-year history. Three have been under the guidance of Royal. The team finished with the fifth-most goals scored in a single season (34), tied for the fourth-most assists (37), the eight losses are tied for the third fewest, the three ties are the most ever, and the five shutouts registered were tied for the fifth most. For the first time in program history, La Salle also had five players register at least 10 points, while four of them netted five goals for only the second time ever (1999). Not only getting it done on the field, La Salle Women's Soccer also earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award in 2008 for the seventh straight year. In 2007, La Salle posted 11 victories, the second-most ever at the school. Among some of the numbers they put up include scoring the third-most goals (41) in a season and registering the second-most assists (49) in one year. After the season, Kristin Hextall, who scored 15 goals and had 36 points for per game totals of 0.75 and 1.8, respectively, led the Atlantic 10 Conference and finished 14th in the nation in both categories, and garnered a pair of regional accolades. She was the second of Royal's players to earn NSCAA and SoccerBuzz honors, as Jenna Guagenti also earned selections on the postseason teams in 2006. Only four Explorers have ever been named to regional teams and two have been under Royal. In just his second season as head coach (2004), Royal guided La Salle to one of its best seasons in school history. The Explorers went 10-8-2, the second-best winning percentage in program history (2000, 12-6), and qualified for the A-10 Championship Tournament for only the second time as well (2001). The defense posted a 0.87 goals allowed average, the best such mark ever at La Salle (2000, 1.23 GAA). In 2006, he took the Explorers back to the A-10 Tournament for the third time in school history, the second time in three seasons, with a fourth-place finish in the regular season. The Explorers posted a 6-2-1 mark, which included only the second win over Dayton in 13 meetings and handing Charlotte its only regular-season conference loss that year. Outside of La Salle, Royal will enter his first season as the Philadelphia Independence's Volunteer Goalkeeper Coach. A member of the Women's Professional Soccer league, the Independence will begin play in 2010. This would be Royal's second stint working in the professional ranks, as he spent three seasons (2001-03) working as the goalkeeper's coach for the WUSA's Philadelphia Charge under current Florida State coach Mark Krikorian and United States National Team coach Pia Sundage. While with the Charge, Royal coached current US National Team Goalkeeper Hope Solo. Additionally, Royal has been a member of the Region One ODP staff and also heads a number of youth teams. He helped lead the U-17 Eastern PA Olympic Development Program to a Regional and National ODP championship in 2007. Along with coach Steve Frye, Royal won a Region 1 Championship in 2008 with the U-18 FC Delco Fury II. Their Delco team finished the summer of 2008 with the bronze medal at the US Youth Soccer Nationals. He also helped guide them to three consecutive Eastern PA state titles and the team also advanced to the regional finals in 2007. His Delco team has been ranked consistently in the top 10 in the country for the last three years and is currently fourth. Before coming to 20th and Olney, the former Archbishop Ryan High School soccer player (1989-91) spent five seasons at Villanova, where he served as the top assistant, working primarily with the goalkeepers and the team's defensive systems. He was instrumental in the program's recruiting affairs, and coordinated all of the team's schedules. The Wildcats achieved national rankings as high as 14th in 2002, made consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history and ranked sixth nationally in goals-against average (0.55). Royal was drafted by the National Professional Soccer League's (NPSL) Milwaukee Wave in 1995 as the first goalkeeper selected, and the eighth choice overall. He played with the Wave for two seasons (1995-96), before moving on to a three-year stay with the South Jersey Barons of the USL's D3 Pro League. He received Second-Team All-D3 Pro League mention in 1998, and led the Barons to a regular-season National Championship in 1999. Royal's most-recent stint in professional soccer came when he helped the Philadelphia KiXX to the 2000-01 NPSL National Championship Game. The four-year starting goalkeeper at Wisconsin-Milwaukee was a two-time First-Team All-Midwestern Collegiate Conference choice. He served as the Panthers' captain in 1995, and registered a 40-20-5 record between the pipes. Royal, who received his Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice in 1996 from UWM, currently resides in Cherry Hill, NJ, with his wife, Shelby, and daughters, Payton and Megan. |
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