The University of Mary women’s soccer team lives by the creed “It’s not what happens, it’s how you react!” according to head coach Levi Evans. He encourages the Marauders to strive to win on the field, in the classroom, and within the community.
Entering his eighth season at the helm of the U-Mary women’s soccer team, Evans is creating a powerful program that qualified for the 2007 NCAA regional tournament in the Marauders first season of post-season eligibility. U-Mary finished the 2007 season 16-7 overall and ranked fourth in the region.
The Marauders have quickly made their mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. In its first two years as a member of the NSIC, U-Mary captured the conference tournament championship in both seasons (2006 and 2007). U-Mary proved itself a defensive juggernaut in the post-season, refusing to give up a goal in its first six NSIC playoff games, winning all six tournament games by a 1-0 score.
In five seasons in the Northern Sun, the Marauders are 32-16-9 in the regular season and 7-3 in postseason play.
Since moving to the Northern Sun and NCAA in 2006, several Marauders have earned academic and athletic honors under Evans tutelage. U-Mary has had one NCAA All-American (third team), 15 NCAA all-region honors (six first team, three second and six third), two NSIC tournament most valuable players, nine NSIC all-tournament players, 20 NSIC all-conference players (four first team, six second team, four third team and six honorable mention), six NSIC Players of the Week and 30 NSIC All-Academic performers.
Evans took control of the Marauders in 2004 and led U-Mary to a 15-7-1 overall record and a third straight trip to the NAIA national tournament for U-Mary. This success led to his earning Region III Coach of the Year honors as voted on by his peers. As the Marauders began to make the transition to NCAA Division II from NAIA, U-Mary finished 8-8-2 in 2005 and 9-9-3 in 2006 before the University of Mary was granted active membership in fall 2007. In his six years as head coach, Evans had compiled a record of 75-56-17.
Evans attended U-Mary from 1996-2000. As a Marauder soccer player, he received honors including Honorable Mention All-American, Team Captain, and Team MVP. He started his coaching career as U-Mary’s assistant women’s soccer coach from 2000-2002, during which time the Marauders had winning seasons and qualified for their first-ever national tournament. Evans returned to the university in 2004 as the head coach after coaching soccer in Gillette, WY.
Also the Coordinator of the U-Mary Men’s and Women’s Soccer Operations, Evans will oversee certain aspects of both soccer programs, including scheduling of games and budgeting. While the women’s team is part of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the men’s squad plays an NCAA Division II independent schedule. By combining efforts, the two programs look to schedule doubleheader dates with opponents, share coaching duties and more.
Dedicated to his profession and the game of soccer, Evans has a United States Soccer Federation “A” License, United States Soccer Federation “Y” License, as well as a Premier Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Evans completed a Master of Management and Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Mary in 2007. He graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Mary.
