Women's Soccer Coaches
TINA PATTERSON
Head Coach
Coach Tina Patterson brings back an experienced squad from a team that finished 18-3-2 and went all the way to the NCAA Division II’s round of Elite Eight, defeating Metro State and Central Oklahoma before losing to Seattle Pacific.
Patterson’s team had tied with St. Edward’s University for the Heartland Conference Championship, earning both teams bids into the national tournament. St. Edward’s bowed out in the first round while Patterson and the Cardinals advanced to the Elite Eight.
Coach Patterson’s overall record is 196-75-17 and she looks to achieve 200 career victories early in the 2008 campaign while her squad aims to win the outright conference championship and make another deep run into the playoffs.
The only below par season among her 15 outings was 2004. Only one time, the very first year (8-7), did the Cardinals flirt with not having a winning year. Incarnate Word was good early, and has been consistently good, and Tina Patterson has had a huge hand in those 14 years of success.
Her 2001 Cardinals won a school record 18 games and received UIW's first-ever invitation to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. Incarnate Word and Coach Patterson advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to the eventual champion.
That team graduated its top three scorers including the University's all-time point-producer. Dreary times ahead for her Cardinals, nee Crusaders? Not really. The 2002 team went 11-5-2 and in 2003 UIW was 10-6-2 with a return to the championship room of the Heartland Conference. UIW has won four of the seven titles handed out by the Heartland. Before that, Incarnate Word had won eight of nine crowns from the old Heart of Texas Conference. Tina Patterson coached five of those winning teams.
You see, with Coach Patterson on hand for 14 years now, there is a system in place. A highly successful system at that. And the system carried through while the Cardinals reloaded over time.
She is the winningest women's soccer coach in UIW history, and her milestone 150th win was October 1, 2004, when the Cardinals hosted Texas Woman's and won 2-1.
Competition always has been at high levels for Patterson. At Incarnate Word, in addition to the NCAA post-season appearances, her teams played in three NAIA regional tournaments and in three NAIA national tournaments. Thirteen of her players have achieved All-American recognition for their play on the field while six have been named Academic All-America.
A native of Lincoln, Neb., Patterson played high school soccer at Plano in Texas before earning her bachelor's degree in kinesiology at Texas A&M University. Her master's degree is from Incarnate Word in sports management. At UIW, in addition to her coaching duties, she is the department's compliance officer..
Playing for the Texas A&M Aggies, she was All-America. Before that, she played her freshman year in 1984 for the NCAA national champion University of North Carolina Tarheels. She was the team's rookie of the year. Following that, in 1986, she was a starting member of the gold medal team at the United States Olympic Festival.
Honors continued to come her way at Incarnate Word. She was HOTC coach of the year in 1995, 1996, and 1998. She was NAIA regional coach of the year in both 1994 and 1997. In 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005 she was the Heartland Conference coach of the year.
She is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the Women's Sports Foundation.
She and her husband Mark are the parents of Katie (16) and Cole (11).
JEREMIAH NARVAEZ
ASSISTANT COACH
Jeremiah Narvaez played his collegiate soccer at Incarnate Word, then, he spent two years over on the Cardinals men’s side as an assistant coach. In 2007, he moved onto the women’s staff as the assistant coach and returns for the 2008 campaign.
In the two years with the men's program, he had a good, long look at all the duties--coaching, recruiting, scheduling, and the attending paperwork which never seems to end. Part of that extensive experience came during times when UIW was searching for head coaches in successive off-seasons and he shouldered the load.
Plus, he worked in this vital position as the transition person on the staff as the Cardinals have experienced two new coaches with different styles and philosophies.
A native of Corpus Christi and a product of Incarnate Word Academy in that coastal city, he came to UIW as a 'walk-on' soccer player and by the time his senior year rolled around he started 12 of his 17 games as a midfielder.
He earned his bachelor's degree in business management at Incarnate Word and along the way was named to the Heartland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll for maintaining better than a 3.2 grade point average.
In the UIW graduate school, he has been studying for a master's degree in business administration.
AMBER COLE
GRADUATE ASSISTANT
There are those who say the number 13 is unlucky. In the case of Amber Cole, it’s not so true for you see when she completed her four years of competition as a player at Incarnate Word, she rested in the 13th position on the all-time school scoring list. Impressive for a player who was in the midfield and who was never the primary scorer.
At the end of 2006, her senior season, Cole was voted second team NSCAA All-Midwest Region after being first team All-Heartland Conference. She also worked her way onto the Heartland Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the second time. Twice in her UIW time she was All-Heartland.
In 2006, she was top 10 in six of nine statistical categories kept by the Heartland. And, over her four years at UIW, she missed a grand total of one game.
Now, while working for her master’s degree and getting certified to teach and coach, she will be a staff member for the Cardinals. She is a product of San Antonio’s Churchill High School where she was all-region and was named to the all-tournament team at the state level.
