Michele Cornish - Women's Soccer Coach - UNC Asheville Athletics

Michele Cornish

Title:
Head Coach

Michele Cornish, a two-time Big South Conference Coach of the Year, begins her 16th year as head coach of the UNC Asheville women's soccer program in 2009. The Colorado native is the dean of Head Coaches in the Big South Conference and has done a wonderful building the Bulldog program into one of the most consistent in the Big South and South region.

Cornish has accomplished a great deal during her coaching career but in 2006 she was able to accomplish a first when she led UNC Asheville to its first ever berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs were seeded fifth in the tournament but pulled off three victories against foes they had not beaten during the regular season. The women's soccer program became the first women's team at UNC Asheville to ever advance to the NCAA Tournament since the school went Division I.

Cornish's club has also done an outstanding job in the classroom. They have had a record number of student-athletes on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or above) the past four semesters.

The 2005 campaign was another outstanding season for the Bulldogs. She led Asheville to its second straight Big South Conference regular-season championship and another trip to the league title match. The Bulldogs finished with a 13-6-0 overall record. Cornish was honored by her peers at the end of the season by being named Big South Coach of the Year.

In 2004, UNC Asheville captured its first Big South Conference regular-season title with a 6-0-2 league mark. The Bulldogs were a preseason pick to finish in fourth place but proved the experts wrong by going on a school-record six-game winning streak midway through the year. Cornish kept her club focused despite numerous injuries to key players. Asheville finished the season with an 11-6-2 overall record.

The 2003 team just missed making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament and claiming its second title when it advanced to the league title game against High Point. The Bulldogs fell in Penalty Kicks, 3-2 to the Panthers but finished the season with an overall record of 11-6-3.

In 2002, the Bulldogs finished with a 9-8-1 record and made a great run to the Big South Conference championship game. Seeded fifth, UNC Asheville upset fourth-seeded Elon and top-seeded Liberty in penalty kicks. The Bulldogs fell in the championship game to Radford, 2-0.

In 1998, UNC Asheville finished with an 11-7-1 record, the fourth straight winning season for the Bulldogs. For four consecutive years, Cornish's club was the top defensive team in the Big South Conference. Asheville finished in second place in league play and advanced to the league championship game three timee in a four-year span.

The 1997 season had the Bulldogs finish with a 9-8-1 overall record, the program's third straight winning season. The Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament for the third straight season and narrowly missed advancing to the title game with a last-minute 2-1 loss to eventual champ South Alabama.

In the 1996 season, the Bulldogs finished with a 10-3-1 overall record. UNC Asheville finished the season with a seven-game unbeaten streak. For the second straight year, Cornish's club advanced to the Big South Conference championship game against nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro. UNC Asheville was gunning for its second consecutive league title at the expense of the Lady Spartans. The Bulldogs came up just short as they lost to UNCG in a shootout after four overtime periods. Cornish's club earned impressive victories over NCAA Sweet 16 participant Wake Forest, 2-0 and a 2-1 road win at Southern Conference champion Davidson. Asheville finished the season unbeaten at home with a 6-0 record. The Bulldogs outscored their opponents 22-2 at home in the 1996 season.

The 1995 season produced one of the most amazing stories in collegiate soccer. Picked to finish in fourth place in preseason Big South polls, the Bulldogs steamrolled to a 16-5 overall record. Asheville finished second in the regular season, its highest finish ever. The Bulldogs recorded a 3-0 win over UMBC in the semifinals and then shocked UNC Greensboro 1-0 on the Lady Spartans home turf for the program's first ever championship. Cornish's club finished with numerous school records and a No. 7 ranking in the South Region. Cornish was named Big South Conference Coach of the Year.

She was a four-year letterwinner for the Lady Patriots of George Mason University from 1985 until 1989. In her freshman year, she started and played forward on the 1985 Lady Patriot squad that won the NCAA national championship over North Carolina, 2-0. While playing for George Mason, Cornish was an all-conference performer for two seasons and earned all-tournament honors in two tourneys. She also earned the coaches award two of her years at Mason.

Cornish enjoyed a spectacular high school career at Arvada West High School in Arvada, Colorado. She set a national scoring record in the spring of 1985 for boys and girls by scoring 50 goals in 16 games. Cornish also earned all-state, all-conference and team MVP honors her sophomore, junior and senior years. Also in 1985, she was named to the U.S. Nationals team, which competed in China for three weeks. At 18, Michele was the youngest player on the squad.

Her husband, Steve, has been the men's coach at UNC Asheville for 17 seasons and has been named the Big South Conference Coach of the Year in 1995 and 2001. The couple resides in Weaverville and has one son, Cameron (16) and one daughter Cheyney (11).