Dec. 23, 2003

VILLANOVA, PA. - Villanova University head women's soccer coach Ann Clifton was recently named Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year by the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America), capping off a storybook season for her and the Wildcats.

The 2003 season Clifton's seventh as head coach of the Villanova University women's soccer program. It was also her best yet, as she led the Wildcats to the program's finest season ever.

Early in the 2003 season with a win over Syracuse, Clifton became the all-time winningest coach in the history of Villanova women's soccer. The Wildcats used a late-season surge to propel them into the Big East Tournament. Getting by three nationally ranked teams in the tournament, Villanova went on to win the program's first-ever Big East Conference Championship.

The 2003 Wildcats would earn a trip to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament and made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time ever. Villanova wound down the season with a 15-5-5 overall record, finishing the year with the program's highest ever final national ranking at No. 15.

Through her first seven seasons on the Main Line, Clifton's career record at Villanova now stands at 84-47-14.