Six programs made head coach changes for 2009

With the college soccer spring season having come and gone, and the regular season not far away, let’s take a look at a few of the many coaching changes that will take effect in a matter of months.

Today we’ll look at a few of the exits and entrances on the women’s side.

Arkansas
Out: Gordon Henderson
In: Erin Aubry
Outlook: Finished 4-7-0 in the SEC Western in 2008. Aubry led Morehead State to its first NCAA tournament in the school’s history last season.

The Razorbacks have a strong recruiting class that includes Alexandria Chandler, Kate Singleton, Fara Shahryary, Sami Pesek and Tara Zika.

John Cullen, new head coach at Charlotte.

Charlotte
Out: Jon Lipsitz
In: John Cullen
Outlook: Finished atop the Atlantic 10 with a conference record of 11-0 in 2008, while advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Cullen inherits a strong program after distinguishing himself while coaching at Catawba with a record of 113-33-16 over eight seasons.

Fresno State
Out: Steve Springthorpe
In: Brian Zwaschka
Outlook: Finished 5-1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference in 2008 before bowing out in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

This will be Zwaschka’s first head coaching job at the college level. He was an assistant at California for the last two years after assisting at Texas Tech from 2005-07.

Gonzaga
Out: Shannon Stiles
In: Amy Edwards
Outlook: Finished 2-4-1 in the West Coast Conference in 2008. Edwards will have big shoes to fill in replacing Stiles, the school’s first female head coach and a proven winner over 10 seasons.

Edwards was the associate head coach at Missouri since 2007, and was an assistant there for three years. She’ll start anew with a recruiting class that features Anna Lund, Megan Scanlon and Kelsey Were.

Indiana State
Out: Vernon Croft
In: Erika True
Outlook: Finished 1-5-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2008. True is a former standout goalkeeper at Bowling Green who spent the last four seasons as an assistant at Indiana. She also had an assistant coaching stint at Creighton before landing her first head coaching job.

Kentucky
Out: Warren Lipka
In: Jon Lipsitz
Outlook: Finished 3-7-1 in SEC Eastern Conference in 2008. Lipsitz enjoyed tremendous success at Charlotte, with a record of 101-33-8 and three straight Atlantic 10 titles, before jumping ship to the Wildcats.

Lipsitz has a strong bond with his players that will be good for recruiting, and Danielle Krohn, for one, has switched her 2010 commitment from Charlotte to Kentucky based on her affinity for the coach.