Bucknell University Athletics
David Madsen, Leigh Howard Join Bison Women's Soccer Staff
5/19/2015 10:44:00 AM | Women's Soccer
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- First-year Bucknell women's soccer coach Kelly Kuss has announced the appointment of assistant coaches David Madsen and Leigh Howard. Madsen joins the Bison after spending the last five years as an assistant at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, while Howard has been a member of the coaching staff at Trinity College for the last three seasons.
During Madsen's tenure at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Panthers won four straight Horizon League championships and made four NCAA Tournament appearances from 2010-13. In 2011, the squad defeated Illinois State in the first round to mark the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history.
Among his myriad of duties at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Madsen served as the team's goalkeepers coach. His top goalkeeper in 2011, Jamie Forbes, posted 11 shutouts and was named the Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year and Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Most recently, keeper Paige Lincicum was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team in 2013.
In addition to his on-field duties, Madsen played a major role in the program's recruiting efforts, and he helped coordinate a number of community service and alumni events. He also assisted with the team's academic enhancement efforts, and during his five years in Milwaukee coached nine NSCAA Scholar-All-Region and three Scholar All-America student-athletes.
Prior to his arrival at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2010, Madsen spent four years (2006-09) as the head men's and women's coach at Division III Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and three years (2003-05) as an assistant coach at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater, which is his alma mater. In 2008, Madsen led the Lakeland men to their first winning season since 1994. The Muskies went 8-7-2 that year and posted a school record for goals in a season. On the women's side, Lakeland posted a pair of 10-win seasons during his tenure.
He has also been active in the club soccer scene. He has served as the club goalkeeper coach with North Shore United Soccer Club and FC Wisconsin Soccer Club. He has also been a staff member with the Wisconsin Olympic Development Program and the Wisconsin's US Soccer Training Center while also serving as director and partner of the Milwaukee Elite Academy Soccer Camps.
A Milwaukee native, Madsen was a goalkeeper during his playing days at Wisconsin-Whitewater, and he captained the team as a senior in 2002. He led the team to three NCAA Round of 16 appearances and posted a career 0.92 goals-against average with 24 shutouts and a 38-14-4 record. He was an NSCAA All-Region selection in 2002.
Madsen was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at UWW. He received his bachelor's degree in business administration in December 2003 and his master's in curriculum and instruction in December 2005.
"David brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the program," said Kuss. "He comes from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he helped guide the team to four NCAA appearances in five years. David has trained high-level goalkeepers at the college and semi-professional levels, and he was instrumental in the success of the back line at UW Milwaukee. David also spent time as a head coach at the Division III level and has experience in all aspects of the profession. He has a great mind for the game and will be a tremendous asset to the program. I feel very fortunate to have David as a part of our staff at Bucknell."
Howard was both a coach and a student-athlete at Trinity College, where she received a bachelor's degree in psychology in May 2012 and a master's in American studies in May 2014.
In her second year as an assistant coach at Trinity in 2013, Howard helped lead the team to its best season in program history. The Bantams posted a school-record 13 victories (13-4-1) and won a game in its very first NCAA Tournament appearance. That team was ranked No. 1 in the New England Region for part of the season and finished in the national top-25 for the first time.
Howard was involved with all aspects of the Trinity program on and off the field, and she recruited a student-athlete who became the NESCAC scoring leader and Rookie of the Year in her first collegiate season. Howard developed an annual Alumni Day event along with an online networking group that helped increase the program's alumni involvement by 250 percent. Howard also implemented an academic support program, which helped lead to a combined team grade-point average of 3.5.
Since June 2014, Howard has served as head coach with the FSA FC United ECNL U18 club team, and she has been an assistant coach in the Connecticut Olympic Development Program.
During the spring of her junior year at Trinity, Howard interned with Amandla EduFootball in Cape Town, South Africa. She helped organize and supervise leagues in 11 children's homes the Cape Town area, and she helped organize the Crime Prevention League in the township of Khayelitsha. Howard went abroad again in the summer of 2013, this time to Grenada, Nicaragua with the Soccer Without Borders program.
As a student-athlete at Trinity, Howard was named team captain as a senior, and she was the women's soccer program's first four-time All-NESCAC selection. Howard equaled the team record for points in a season with 26 on 10 goals and six assists as a sophomore, and her career total of 69 points (28G, 13A) ranks No. 3 in program history.
"Leigh has tremendous energy and passion for the game," said Kuss. "She was a standout student-athlete at Trinity College and will be a great mentor for the women in the Bucknell women's soccer program. Leigh comes from a family with a strong background in soccer, and I am happy to see her pursuing her passion in coaching at the Division I level. Leigh's work ethic and dynamic personality will be very valuable for the program, and she will be a great addition to our staff."
Bucknell finished 4-4-1 in Patriot League play last season. Seeded fifth in the Patriot League Tournament, the Bison defeated fourth-seeded Army 2-1 in the quarterfinal round before falling 2-1 in a snowstorm at Colgate in the semifinals. Seven seniors have graduated from that squad, but eight of the team's top 10 scorers are slated to return, along with the addition of a promising recruiting class.
