Mizzou soccer coach Stefanie Golan puts finishing touches on coaching staff
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
As Mizzou soccer coach Stefanie Golan enters her fifth season at the helm in Columbia, she will be working with nearly an entirely new coaching staff on the sidelines at Audrey J. Walton Stadium. On Friday afternoon, Golan made another addition to her staff.
Mizzou Athletics announced that former North Texas goalkeeper coach Austen Parker will be the second new face to join Tiger soccer, as he will come on board as an assistant coach for the 2025 season. He joins former West Georgia associate head coach Renee Horton as the newbies on Golan's staff. In addition to the pair of outside hires, Coach Golan also decided to promote former assistant coach Kelsey Wys to associate head coach on Tuesday. Wys is the only returning staff member from the 2024 season.
Parker will be filling Wys' former role for the Tigers after spending one season with the Mean Green. Before his time in Denton, Texas, he also spent time as the goalkeeper coach at Central Oklahoma.
"We are extremely excited to bring Austen into the program," Coach Golan said in a press release. "We wouldn't have been able to elevate Kelsey the way we are if we didn't find the right person to come in to work with goalkeeper, and Austen is definitely the right person. He has a contagious energy, an extremely high attention to detail, and a relentless work ethic and a competitive drive. In addition to work with goalkeepers, Austen will be heavily involved in recruiting and scouting amongst other duties."
Before his time at Central Oklahoma, Parker spent two seasons coaching at Southwestern Christian University, while also coaching a couple of club programs in Oklahoma.
Parker found his niche coaching the very position that he found success in at the collegiate level. He played at NAIA Mid-America Christian University (MACU), where he was an NCCAA All-American and led his team to the NCCAA National Championship.
His 2019 campaign was, by far, his best in the net for the Evangels. He set three single-season MACU records in wins (20), shutouts (13) and goals allowed average (0.9). Parker finished the season with 67 saves for a 0.753 save percentage, which is the fourth-best clip in program history. The Evangels finished 20-3-1 overall that season and recorded the team's best-ever finish in league play with a 7-1-1 conference record. Parker also helped lead his team to MACU's first-ever NCCAA National Championship and first regional championship since 2013.
Parker will be tasked with mentoring Mizzou's pair of goalkeepers: junior Kate Phillips and redshirt sophomore Riley Wilkerson, who transferred in from Cal Poly this offseason.
Coach Golan and company will be looking to turn the corner in 2025, as the program has not recorded more than five wins in a season since 2021.
