Paul Ratcliffe Position: Head Coach Experience: Ninth Season Alma Mater: UCLA '94

Two-time national coach of the year Paul Ratcliffe has built Stanford into one of the nation's elite and continues to draw the program closer to a national championship. In eight seasons, Ratcliffe has never failed to direct the Cardinal to the NCAA tournament. And now, with consecutive berths in the NCAA championship final, the team is a perennial title contender.

In guiding Stanford to NCAA College Cup appearances the past three years, Ratcliffe has earned the past three Pac-10 and NSCAA Pacific Region Coach of the Year awards, and two NSCAA National Coach of Year honors.

The Cardinal has won the past two Pac-10 titles with perfect records and is a combined 70-4-3 overall since 2008. Just as impressive is the level of talent that has come through the program -- headlined by the past two Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy winners as college soccer's top player, Christen Press (2010) and Kelley O'Hara (2009).

Ratcliffe now heads into his ninth season at Stanford, which makes him the longest-tenured head coach in program history, and his 133-35-18 record makes him the winningest as well. Ratcliffe has never had a losing season at Stanford, or anywhere else since his first collegiate head-coaching season, at Saint Mary's in 1998.

His career record is 188-69-25 and his winning percentage of .711, ranks 12^th all-time among coaches with at least 10 years of NCAA Division I head-coaching experience.

At Stanford, Ratcliffe has coached five first-team NSCAA All-Americans (11 in all), 25 all-conference players, 42 Pac-10 All-Academic selections and three Olympians.

Last year, three players received All-America honors, the most of any school. Four were first-team All-Pac-10 with nine receiving all-conference honors in all, and eight made the Pac-10 All-Academic team. Press became the sixth Stanford player to earn Pac-10 Player of the Year.

In addition, Ratcliffe has coached six players active on full national teams, including current Stanford players Alina Garciamendez and Teresa Noyola of Mexico's World Cup team.

Last year, the Cardinal led the nation in winning percentage (.923), was third in scoring offense (2.85 goals per game), and third in goals-against average (0.45).

Furthermore, Stanford seems well positioned to be successful for years to come. The Cardinal loses only two seniors from its starting lineup and returns its entire defense. Five 2010 starters -- Garciamendez, Mariah Nogueira, Rachel Quon, Courtney Verloo, and Annie Case -- were sophomores academically, and two of those (Nogueira and Verloo) already have earned All-America honors.

Before arriving at Stanford, Ratcliffe spent five seasons as head coach at Saint Mary's, leading the Gaels to a 55-34-7 overall record. He was a three-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year. In 2001, he earned West Region Coach of the Year honors when the Gaels - with only one senior in the starting lineup - reached their highest-ever national ranking of No. 7, had a 13-game win streak and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Before coming to Moraga, Ratcliffe was an assistant at his alma mater, UCLA, from 1994-97. The Bruins posted an undefeated 1997 season, won the Pac-10 title and reached the NCAA quarterfinals. Ratcliffe also served as UCLA's interim head coach from January through August of 1996.

Ratcliffe earned his National "A" License from the United States Soccer Federation in 1999. A 1994 UCLA graduate, Ratcliffe earned his degree in sociology with a specialization in business administration. Ratcliffe, a midfielder, was a four-year letterman, scoring 30 points in 73 matches, and was a member of the 1990 national championship team.

A native of Calabasas, Calif., Ratcliffe went on to play professionally for the Los Angeles United and Anaheim Splash of the Continental Indoor Soccer League in 1993 and 1994.

Ratcliffe and his wife, Amy, live in San Jose and have two daughters, Elena and Chloe.

Ratcliffe's Record Year-By-Year

Ratcliffe's Honors

• 1999 WCC Coach of the Year
• 2000 WCC Coach of the Year
• 2001 WCC Coach of the Year
• 2008 NSCAA National Coach of the Year
• 2008 Soccer America National Coach of the Year
• 2008 Soccer Buzz National Coach of the Year
• 2008 NSCAA Pacific Region Coach of the Year
• 2008 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
• 2009 NSCAA National Coach of the Year
• 2009 CaptainU National Coach of the Year
• 2009 NSCAA Pacific Region Coach of the Year
• 2009 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
• 2010 NSCAA Pacific Region Coach of the Year
• 2010 Pac-10 Coach of the Year