2012 Soccer Season Preview

Team is looking for a seventh straight NCAA Tournament bid

11/09/2012

Auburn Wins NCAA Tournament Opener

The Auburn soccer team defeated Washington, 2-1, in the NCAA Tournament First Round

The newest member of Karen Hoppa's coaching staff, Ben Madsen was named assistant coach on Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. Madsen joined Auburn from Iowa State where he was an assistant coach for four years and served as the Cyclones' head assistant since 2009.

"We are so excited to add Ben to our staff," Hoppa said at the time of his hiring. "First and foremost, he is a quality person, but he also brings a wealth of experience to the Plains. As the recruiting coordinator at Iowa State, he did an extraordinary job identifying and recruiting high level student-athletes. On the field he has a great defensive mind so he will primarily coach the goalkeepers and backs to help them reduce our goals against average. Amy (Berbary, Associate Head Coach) and I are really looking forward to working with him."

"I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to work for such a tradition-rich program," Madsen said at the same time. "I have known coach Hoppa for many years, dating back to my time at South Alabama, and I have the utmost respect for her and her program. I look forward to starting this new journey and working alongside Karen, Amy (Berbary) and everyone associated with the Auburn family."

Madsen was the recruiting coordinator and goalkeepers coach at Iowa State and helped bring a recruiting class that increased the program's win total for three straight seasons from 2009-11. In 2011 the ISU club tied the program record for shutouts in a season with nine and he coached goalkeeper Maddie Jobe to two Big XII Player of the Week awards. On the recruiting trail his 2010 freshman class accounted for 92 percent of the team's points and scored every goal in Big XII conference play.

Prior to ISU Madsen was an assistant at the University of South Alabama from 2004-08. During his stay in Mobile the team made four Sunbelt Conference tournament appearances and finished as the conference runner-up in 2005. He also coached the 2004 First Team All-Sunbelt goalkeeper.

Madsen started his coaching career with the Lincoln College men's team from 2002-03 before moving on to Alabama-Huntsville from 2003-04. At Lincoln he trained the 2002 Collegiate Conference of Central Illinois First Team All-Conference goalkeeper while at UAH he recruited the 2004 Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year.

Madsen has been very active in youth soccer acting as a Region II and Region III goalkeeper coach, a U14 girls head coach and an ODP assistant and co-head coach.

Madsen earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Lincoln Memorial University in 2003, where he also played from 1998-01. He has a NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, a NSCAA National Diploma, a NSCAA National Goalkeeper Diploma and a NSCAA State and Regional Goalkeeper Diploma.