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Steve Widdowson
CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Steve Widdowson became Millersville's head coach in 2007 and over the last 16 years, he has built the Marauders into a perennial PSAC and NCAA regional contender. Widdowson finished his 16th season at Millersville in the fall of 2022 and ranks 17th among all active Division II coaches in winning percentage (31st all-time) and 23rd in career wins.
Widdowson led the program to its first-ever NCAA Semifinal and its first-ever PSAC Tournament Championship in 2011. His club returned to the top of the PSAC with a tournament title in 2018 and made it back-to-back-to-back titles with PSAC championships in 2019 and 2021. Widdowson has taken the Marauders to 12 PSAC Tournament appearances and eight NCAA Tournament berths. His teams have appeared in seven PSAC championship games. Widdowson is a three-time NSCAA/MONDO Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and four-time PSAC/PSAC East Coach of the Year.
Widdowson has developed eight All-Americans, 37 All-Atlantic Region honorees, 55 All-PSAC selections, four PSAC/PSAC East Players of the Year, a PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year, and a PSAC Freshman of the Year.
Widdowson is the winningest coach in program history (by percentage, .664).
OUTSTANDING SEASONS
The 2021 Marauders started the season 4-0 and nationally ranked before entering a rough patch where they dropped four of six. However, they climbed back to clinch the No. 4 seed in the PSAC Tournament and take home a third consecutive PSAC Title, defeating Gannon 2-0. The team then hosted, and won, an NCAA Second Round game against Gannon in PK's to advance to the NCAA Third Round in Rindge, N.H. . Widdowson's group then upset the No. 4 team in the nation, Franklin Pierce (20-1-1) in PK's to move on to their first NCAA Quarterfinal game since the 2013 season. Millersville would fall in double-overtime to the defending national champions, and eventual NCAA runner-up, No. 5 Charleston (W. Va.).
The 2019 campaign once again featured a difficult non-conference schedule but after a 1-2 start the Marauders recovered and posted a 9-1-2 PSAC record and a PSAC East title to give them home field advantage for the PSAC Tournament. Millersville shut out No. 5 Gannon 1-0 in the title game to claim back-to-back PSAC titles.
The 2018 Marauders faced one of the toughest schedules in Division II and still posted a 10-4-6 record en route to a PSAC Championship, which was won on penalty kicks on the home field of West Chester--the eventual NCAA runner-up.
Widdowson's 2017 club climbed as high as No. 9 in the national rankings and spent six weeks in the national top 25. The team started 6-0-1 and closed with wins in four of the last five regular season games. The Marauders were also ranked as high as No. 3 in the NCAA Atlantic Region rankings.
In 2016, Widdowson's Marauders made its second consecutive trip to the PSAC Tournament and achieved a national ranking of No. 20 before finishing the season 12-6-2. This came after a 2015 season in which the Marauders opened the season 11-0-1 and was ranked as high as No. 9 in Division II. The Marauders, with All-American and PSAC Player of the Year Jaime Vazquez leading the way, finished as the PSAC runner-up and hosted a NCAA Atlantic Regional playoff game.
In 2013, Widdowson's club reached the NCAA Atlantic Region Championship for the third time since 2008 and made its seventh consecutive appearance in the PSAC Semifinals.
Two years earlier, in 2011, Widdowson rallied his team to the program’s third NCAA Tournament bid. For the second time in four years (2008, 2011), Widdowson captured the NCAA Atlantic Regional Title and his team hosted the NCAA Quarterfinals.Millersville fell in the national semifinals to Fort Lewis but finished No. 4 in the final NSCAA rankings.
The Sheffield, England native guided Millersville to the No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history on Nov. 3, 2009, in what was a memorable season for the Black and Gold. His team won 17 of its first 18 games on the way to that ranking, finishing the year with a 17-3 mark. Along with Millersville's second trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament came a return to the PSAC Championship. Widdowson's men broke the school record for shutouts in a single-season (13). Millersville wrapped up its season by claiming a spot in the final national rankings for the second year in a row. The Marauders slotted in to the No. 17 position.
In his first year at the helm, Widdowson took the 2007 team to an 11-8-1 record and a PSAC Tournament appearance--the program's first in four years. His team only improved the following year, though, as he guided the 2008 team to an 18-3-1 record, a PSAC Eastern Division title and the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance.
The 2008 club set a school record for wins in a season and raced through league play with a perfect 10-0 record. Despite finishing as the PSAC Runners-Up, Widdowson's Marauders hosted the NCAA Atlantic Regional and promptly won two games to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals. The team ended the season ranked No. 6 in Division II. The 2008 team first cracked the national rankings on Sept. 9, and climbed as high as No. 5 during the season.
BEFORE MILLERSVILLE
Widdowson began his illustrious playing career at the age of 15 when he joined Barnsley Professional Football Club of the English Championship. He was a member of the three-time championship winning U-19 Northern Intermediate League team, and at the age of 18, he became the starting goalkeeper for the professional reserve team and the back-up keeper for first team, competing against some of the top clubs in England such as Bolton, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest and Leicester.
In 1994, Widdowson made the move to the United States to play Division I collegiate soccer at Rutgers, a nationally recognized program that regularly commanded a ranking inside the top 10. At Rutgers, Widdowson was recognized as an all-region honoree and first team all-state selection. He also served as the team captain in 1995-1996. He led his team to the Atlantic 10 and Big East Conference Championships as well as an appearance in the NCAA Division I Final Four in his freshman year. Widdowson still holds the school's record for starts in a single season (27 in 1994) and ranks second all-time in saves, third in games played as a goalkeeper and fifth in shutouts. Widdowson also holds the school 's home field record for combined saves in a game tallying 14 out of 22 saves verses Indiana on Sept. 8, 1995.
After graduation from Rutgers, Widdowson continued his playing career by playing professionally for five years in the USL Division II. He played with the Central Jersey Riptide, which won the conference in 1998, the NJ Stallions in 1999 and then spent three years with the Reading Rage, leading the team as captain in 2001-02.
Widdowson’s coaching career began immediately after graduating from Rutgers in 1997 when he took over the position of head men’s coach at Centenary College. In just his second year, Widdowson guided the team to a national championship appearance and a top five regional ranking. Widdowson spent three years at Centenary College before moving to York College where he served for five years as an assistant coach for the men’s team. During this time, York was runners-up in the CAC Championships in 2003 and 2004 before winning the league crown in 2005. That same year, the program made its first-ever NCAA Tournament and cracked the national rankings for the first time in school history.
In 2004, Widdowson was named assistant coach for the Harrisburg City Islanders professional soccer team of the USL. In its first two years the team reached the league playoffs with records of 10-7-3 and 12-3-5. Widdowson was responsible for working with the goalkeepers, and in 2005, the Islanders' starting goalkeeper evolved into one of the league’s most successful keepers, posting a remarkable 10-0-1 record and 0.98 goals against average.
In 2007 Widdowson helped guide the City Islanders to the USL Division II Championship by defeating the defending champion Richmond Kickers. The City Islanders also downed the D.C. United, of Major League Soccer (MLS), 1-0, in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup to reach the quarterfinals. In 2009, they again defeated an MLS team to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, this time beating the New England Revolution.
Widdowson also has an M.B.A,, and has earned a USSF ‘B’ and NSCAA ‘Advanced National’ License, as well as an NCAA Level II Goalkeeping Diploma.
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