William Carey University

William Carey University Athletics
498 Tuscan Avenue Hattiesburg, MS 39401

NAIA Mississippi Southeast

Private Small National competitor

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Coaches

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Danny Owens

2021 concludes Danny Owens 17th season at the helm of the William Carey University women's soccer program. In 2021, Owens guided the Crusaders to a 22-1 record and a final ranking of #2 in the Coaches Top 25 Poll. Carey won the SSAC regular season championship, conference tournament championship and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament for the 13th time in his tenure.

Carey played in the National Championship for the 2nd straight year falling in a sudden death round of penalty kicks. Ana Paula Santos was named 2x NAIA National Player of the Year, Co-Sida Academic All-American of the Year, SSAC Player of the Year and SSAC Offensive Player of the Year. Veronica Herrera was named Defensive Player of the Year, Mariangela Jimenez was named Freshman of the Year, Jaina Eckert was Co-Newcomer of the Year. Jaina also won the Golden Gloves (least goals allowed in conference play) along with Mariangela Jimenez winning the Golden Boot (most goals in conference play). Owens was named SSAC Coach of the Year, and the Staff was named South Regional Staff of the Year. The Lady Crusaders had 14 players to earn SSAC All Conference Awards and 21 players placed on the All-Academic Team. 8 Lady Crusaders earned All-American Honors.

Over the last 17 years Carey have posted 15 winning seasons with a 277-65-16 overall record and 113-18-5 overall conference record. The Lady Crusaders have 10 regular season conference championships, have appeared in 12 Conference Finals winning 8 Conference Tournaments and have made 13 trips to the National Tournament. Carey have made it to 5 Final 4’s, and 3 National Championship games winning the National Championship in 2018. Owens’ staff were selected the National Coaching Staff of the Year in 2018, 2x Regional Staff of the Year and 9x Coach of the Year.

Individually, Owens has coached 9 Conference Players of the Year, 77 1st Team All-Conference players, 10 1st Team All-Americans, 56 All-Americans in all and 236 Academic All-Conference players. In addition, he has had 49 NAIA Scholar Athletes and his team been NAIA All Scholar Team multiple times.

Before his time here at Carey, Owens served as head girls' soccer coach at Our Lady Academy (OLA) in Bay St. Louis, MS. His team compiled an impressive 60-12-7 overall record during his stretch as head coach and won three consecutive Mississippi High School State Championships.

A former Crusader Men's Soccer player from 1996-99, Owens earned All-Conference (Gulf Coast Athletic), All Region (NAIA Region XIII), and 1st Team All American (NAIA) honors at William Carey. During his collegiate career, the Crusaders qualified for three national tournaments and had two NAIA Final Four appearances. He was also voted the team captain and most valuable player during his senior year. In 2013, Owens was inducted in the WCU Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted to the Inaugural Hall of Fame for the Men’s Soccer team at WCU and in 2004 was inducted to the Inaugural Wall of Fame at Bishop Sullivan High School (St. Michael’s High School) in Baton Rouge, LA.

Owens earned his bachelor's degree in Psychology from William Carey in 2000. Afterwards, he also obtained a Master of Science degree in Psychology with an Industrial/Organizational concentration.

Danny currently holds a USSF National "B" License.

Danny is married to Katie Owens, formerly Katie Langlois, and has two boys; Michael Owens (19 years old) and Aiden (15 years old).

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Ryan Weir

Coach Ryan Weir is entering his 9th season as the Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach at William Carey University, having joined the program in 2014. During his 8 seasons with the program, he has helped guide the Crusaders to an overall record of 153-20-5. Resulting in a 0.873 winning percentage.

He assisted William Carey to their first NAIA National Championship in the 2018 season with a record of 21-3.

During his time at William Carey University, Coach Weir has mentored 9 First Team All-Americans, 7 Second Team All-Americans, 12 Third Team All-Americans and 11 Honorable Mentions. He has coached 5 SSAC Players of the Year, 3 SSAC Offensive Players of the Year, 6 SSAC Defensive Players of the Year and 2 NAIA National Players of the Year.

The Crusaders have only been ranked once outside of the top 10 in the NAIA Coaches Poll (#11) since the beginning of the 2014 season when Weir joined the program. The program has been ranked in the top 5 a total of 68 times out of a possible 85 in the NAIA Coaching Polls during Weir’s time and has been voted the #1 team a total of 20 times. Currently the program is on a 50 vote streak of being in the NAIA top 5 dating back to September 2017.

As a player Weir played for William Carey University from 2008-2011 making 55 appearances. He was part of the 2011 team that reached the NAIA National Championship Final 4, making 14 starts and scoring 7 goals during that season.

From Torquay, England, Weir graduated from William Carey University in 2012 with his Bachelor of Arts in History, and received his Master's in Interscholastic Athletic Administration from William Carey University in 2015.