Paul Lawrence was named the head coach of the Prairie Fire women’s soccer team in January of 2014.
Lawrence, a native of Bournemouth, England, just completed his third season for the Prairie Fire. After inheriting a program that had not won a conference game since 2011, he quickly turned things around with a 32-6-3 (14-3-2 MWC) record over the last two years. In 2016, the team won both the conference regular season title and the Midwest Conference Tournament for the first time in program history. They also reached the NCAA Tournament in a season that shattered seven conference records.
Prior to arriving at Knox, he was the assistant women’s soccer coach at NCAA Division II Northwood University since June of 2012. Lawrence helped the Timberwolves make back-to-back Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013. The 2012 team finished the season with an impressive record. In addition, Lawrence – who had a pivotal role in Northwood’s recruiting efforts – was responsible for the largest recruiting class since 1998-1999. Women’s soccer also achieved the highest team GPA (3.65) on the Northwood campus.
Lawrence was the assistant women’s soccer coach and head junior varsity coach at Alma College from June of 2011 to June of 2012. He was also heavily involved in women’s soccer recruiting efforts at Alma, an NCAA D-III school and member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAA).
Alma won its first MIAA Tournament championship, reached the NCAA Tournament, and attained the best record in school history at 18-4-1 in Lawrence’s first year with the program. The Scots concluded the season ranked 22nd in the country.
Prior to moving to the United States, Lawrence worked as assistant men’s soccer coach and goalkeeping coach at Bournemouth University before taking on his duties at Alma College. While studying at BU, he was also involved with video analysis for English professional soccer club AFC Bournemouth.
Lawrence currently holds a NSCAA Premier Diploma, NSCAA Goalkeeper III Diploma, as well as various USSF and English FA coaching licenses. He was a member of the Region II ODP staff as part of the girls youth selection camp in July of 2013. He has plans to continue working with ODP.
Paul resides in Galesburg with his wife Maria and daughter London Olivia.
