LAKELAND, Fla. – After six years as the Head Coach of the Florida Southern College women's soccer team,
Paul Lawrence has stepped down from his role, announced March 22.
"We thank Paul for his dedication to Florida Southern College and the Women's Soccer program over the past six years," said Drew Howard, Director of Athletics and Dean of Wellness for Florida Southern. "He has done a great job for the Mocs and we wish he and his family the best moving forward."
Lawrence led the Mocs to their best season in program history with a 13-2-4 overall record, including the program's first Sunshine State Conference Regular Season Championship before the first NCAA postseason win in women's soccer history at Florida Southern in the first round of the NCAA regional tournament. Lawrence completed the 2022 season with 13 wins (most since 2008), eight conference wins (program record), 45 goals (third-most in school history), averaged 2.37 goals a game (second-best), and a new school record with nine shutouts in the season, allowing only 15 goals all year.
At the end of a successful 2022 season, Lawrence earned his first Moccasin All-American selection with
Morgan Collica named to the D2CCA All-America Third Team in 2022. Lawrence's accomplishments were recognized by his peers by being named the 2022 SSC Coach of the Year for women's soccer. In six years with Florida Southern, Lawrence had 10 All-SSC award winners, three D2CCA All-South Region selections, and both the SSC Freshman of the Year and SSC Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. Academically, he has coached four College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-Americans.
"I am grateful for my time leading the women's soccer program at Florida Southern," said Lawrence. "Six years ago Drew hired me and I enjoyed the opportunity to coach so many great student-athletes. My thanks to him and I look forward to my next journey."
Prior to joining the Mocs, Lawrence was the head coach at Knox for three seasons, earning an MWC Tournament Championship, before making the move to Florida Southern.
A national search for a new head women's soccer coach will begin immediately.
*On March 24, 2023, Indiana State University announced Paul Lawrence as the Head Coach of Women's Soccer.
