Paul Ratcliffe

Paul Ratcliffe, entering his 22nd season at the helm of Stanford’s women’s soccer program in 2024, is the most successful coach in more than 100 years of Stanford soccer, collecting more victories than any other coach in Stanford men's or women's soccer history. The men's soccer program began in 1911 and the women's in 1984.

Ratcliffe, who has directed the Cardinal to the NCAA tournament in all but one season, is Stanford's winningest soccer coach, with a 376-67-39 record on The Farm.

In addition to being the most successful coach in program history overall, Ratcliffe is also the most successful in the postseason, with a 59-14-5 record in NCAA playoff action. His Stanford teams have compiled an incredible 45-2-4 record at home in the postseason.

In 21 seasons as head coach, the Stanford women have won three national championships, reached six NCAA finals, won 10 Pac-12 titles, played in 10 College Cups, and reached the NCAA third round in 14 of the past 18 seasons. The Cardinal has advanced to the College Cup in 10 of the last 16 years.

Ratcliffe led the Cardinal back to the NCAA National Championship match for the sixth time in 2023, finishing as the runner-up after defeating BYU 2-0 in the NCAA Semifinal. The Cardinal was unbeaten headed into the NCAA final against Florida State – marking the first battle of two undefeated teams in Women’s College Cup history. Stanford finished the year 20-1-4 overall and posted an 8-0-3 mark in its final season in the Pac-12 Conference. Sophomore Jasmine Aikey was named 2023 Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year and senior Ryan Campbell earned Goalkeeper of the Year, highlighting a group of 10 Cardinal on All-Pac-12 teams. Stanford matched a national-high with four players on the 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-Pacific Region first team, with Campbell and Aikey being joined by Maya Doms and Elise Evans. Turning in spectacular sophomore season, Aikey was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy and a finalist for the Honda Award. Aikey also earned her first All-America selection, claiming first-team honors, while Evans placed on the third team. Academically, four Cardinal players earned 2023 Academic All-American honors, with Aikey, Campbell, Doms and Wesley being lauded. The latest in a long string of Stanford players drafted into the NWSL, Doms, Wesley and Katie Duong each heard their names called during the 2023 proceedings. Doms was first off the board, nabbed with the eighth overall pick in the first round by expansion team Bay FC. Wesley followed shortly after, taken four picks later in the opening round at No. 12 by San Diego Wave FC. The Portland Thorns selected Duong with their final pick at No. 53 overall in the fourth round. The Cardinal averaged 2.16 goals per game to rank second in the Pac-12, while also posting 13 shutouts and limiting opponents to just .595 goals against to lead the conference and rank 14th nationally.

Winning the latest of its Pac-12 championships in 2022, the Cardinal went 17-2-3 overall and posted a 9-1-1 record in conference play to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Stanford claimed a national-best five All-Region selections and was the only team in the nation to feature four first-team honorees as Jasmine Aikey, Maya Doms, Elise Evans and Kennedy Wesley all landed on the first team. Following a standout season in goal, Ryan Campbell was named to the third team. Evans was named National Freshman of the Year according to TopDrawerSoccer, and the top newcomer in the Pac-12, while Doms earned her second United Soccer Coaches All-America selection. Sierra Enge was selected 13th overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft with the first pick in the second round by San Diego Wave FC. Academically, Abby Greubel was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America second team. The Cardinal finished the season ranked first in the nation in shots per game (11.05) and boasted the eighth-best scoring offense at 2.64 goals per contest. On the defensive side, Stanford posted 12 shutouts while limiting opponents to just .54 goals per match – best in the Pac-12 and sixth nationally.

Stanford went 13-6-1 overall and 7-3-1 in Pac-12 play during the 2021 season, finishing fourth in the conference and punching a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Naomi Girma was named Pac-12 Defender of the Year, a first-team All-American, an Academic All-American and a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy while being selected by San Diego Wave FC with the first overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft. Belle Briede was also selected by San Diego in the third round, while Maya Doms joined Girma as an All-American according to United Soccer Coaches. Girma, Doms and Sierra Enge also captured All-Region selections, with Girma and Doms landing on the first team.

With Girma's selection, Stanford has now produced the No. 1 overall pick in four of the last seven NWSL drafts – Andi Sullivan (2018), Tierna Davidson (2019) and Sophia Smith (2020).

The Cardinal posted a 6-6-2 record during a 2020 season that was moved to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in Ratcliffe's career at Stanford. Despite facing adversity at every turn, the Cardinal saw a pair of players selected in the first round of the 2021 NWSL Draft (Kiki Pickett, 4th; Madison Haley, 7th). Haley and Pickett were both named CoSIDA Academic All-America, and Pickett headlined six selections on the Pac-12 All-Conference teams by being named Pac-12 Defender of the Year and earning a spot on the first team. She and Sierra Enge would eventually earn spots on the United Soccer Coaches' All-Pacific Region teams, with Pickett being named to the first team, and Enge to the second team.

In 2019, Ratcliffe led Stanford to its third national championship. Catarina Macario set virtually every single-season record in program history, scoring 32 goals with 23 assists, while Naomi Girma (first team), Madison Haley (second team) and Kiki Pickett (third team) were also named All-America. Stanford set a program record with 102 goals, winning its last 19 games of the season and defeating North Carolina, 5-4, in penalty kicks to win the title. Macario would go on to win her second consecutive Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, becoming the fifth woman in history to win the award in consecutive years.

With Macario's selections in 2018 and 2019, Stanford has now won six Hermann Trophies in the last 15 seasons under Ratcliffe.

In 2018, Ratcliffe led Stanford to the College Cup, carrying a 45-game unbeaten streak into the final four before dropping a 2-0 decision to Florida State in the semifinal. Macario was awarded the Hermann Trophy for the first time in her illustrious career, and Ratcliffe was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the ninth time.

Ratcliffe was named Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer in the spring of 2018, the first to hold the endowed position.

In 2017, Ratcliffe guided Stanford to its second national championship, setting a then program record with 91 goals while allowing nine. The Cardinal finished the season on a 22-game win streak, and did not allow a goal from open play over the final 1,988:59 minutes. Senior captain Andi Sullivan, who scored in the College Cup final, was awarded the MAC Hermann Trophy as the best player in college soccer.

Ratcliffe is a nine-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year - no other Pac-12 coach has won more than twice in the history of the conference. He is a three-time NSCAA National Coach of the Year.

In 2011, he led Stanford to its first NCAA women's soccer championship, and a third consecutive NCAA final.

Some of the numbers under Ratcliffe are among the most incredible in NCAA Division I women’s soccer history. Stanford had a 73-match home unbeaten streak (70-0-3) from 2008-13 for the second-longest such streak in the NCAA annals. The Cardinal also won 44 consecutive conference matches during the same span for the third-longest streak ever. Also impressive was Stanford’s 162-match unbeaten streak when scoring a goal, a stretch that lasted from 2006-13. Stanford also had a 64-match regular-season unbeaten streak from 2008-12.

Two of Ratcliffe's former players -- Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press -- were members of the U.S. national team that won the 2015 World Cup. Since then, Jane Campbell, Sophia Smith, Andi Sullivan, Tierna Davidson, Catarina Macario, Alana Cook and Naomi Girma have established themselves as regulars with the senior national team.

Girma was named 2022 NWSL Defender and Rookie of the Year – becoming the first NWSL player to secure two individual end-of-year awards in a rookie season. She would repeat as Defender of the Year in 2023, while Jane Campbell was named 2023 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year. In a year in which she was the leading scorer for the U.S. Women’s National Team and Portland Thorns FC, won the National Women’s Soccer League Most Valuable Player and was named MVP of the NWSL Championship Game, Smith was voted the 2022 BioSteel U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. Girma would make it back-to-back honors for a former Cardinal in 2023, earning the U.S. Player of the Year in 2023.

Four of Ratcliffe’s former players competed in the 2012 London Olympics and six appeared in the 2011 World Cup -- no other school claimed as many players in either competition as Stanford. O'Hara, Press, Campbell, Davidson and Macario all competed and won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for USA, while Ali Riley captained New Zealand.

Seven former Cardinal represented their countries in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, with The Farm and Ratcliffe producing five players for Team USA, including Alana Cook, Naomi Girma, Kelley O'Hara, Sophia Smith and Andi Sullivan. Kyra Carusa made her World Cup debut with Ireland, while Ali Riley once again captained New Zealand - earning the country's first World Cup victory in her fifth World Cup appearance. Stanford's five U.S. World Cup members were the most of any program in the nation.

Just as impressive is the level of talent that has come through the program, headlined by these national players of the year: Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy winners Catarina Macario (2018, 2019), Andi Sullivan (2017), Teresa Noyola (2011), Christen Press (2010) and Kelley O'Hara (2009), and 2011 Soccer America Player of the Year Lindsay Taylor. Macario would also collect ESPNW Player of the Year in three straight seasons from 2017 through 2019.

At Stanford, Ratcliffe has coached nine Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners, 24 first-team All-Americans according to the Coaches Association (44 in all) and 144 all-conference players.

Before arriving at Stanford, Ratcliffe spent five seasons as head coach at Saint Mary's, leading the Gaels to a 55-34-7 overall record. He was a three-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year. In 2001, he earned West Region Coach of the Year honors when the Gaels - with only one senior in the starting lineup - reached their highest-ever national ranking of No. 7, had a 13-game win streak and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Before coming to Moraga, Ratcliffe was an assistant at his alma mater, UCLA, from 1994-97. The Bruins posted an undefeated 1997 season, won the Pac-10 title and reached the NCAA quarterfinals. Ratcliffe also served as UCLA's interim head coach from January through August of 1996.

Ratcliffe earned his National "A" License from the United States Soccer Federation in 1999. A 1994 UCLA graduate, Ratcliffe earned his degree in sociology with a specialization in business administration. Ratcliffe, a midfielder, was a four-year letterman, scoring 30 points in 73 matches, and was a member of the 1990 national championship team.

Ratcliffe was born in England and raised in Calabasas, California. He went on to play professionally for the Los Angeles United and Anaheim Splash of the Continental Indoor Soccer League in 1993 and 1994.

Ratcliffe and his wife, Amy, live at Stanford and have two daughters, Elena and Chloe.

Ratcliffe's Year-By-Year Record

Year	School	Record	Conference	Postseason
2023	Stanford	20-1-4	8-0-3	NCAA Final
2022	Stanford	17-2-3	9-1-1	NCAA Second Round
2021	Stanford	13-6-1	7-3-1	NCAA First Round
2020-21	Stanford	6-6-2	5-3-1	--
2019	Stanford	24-1-0	11-0-0	NCAA Champion
2018	Stanford	21-1-2	10-0-1	NCAA Semifinals
2017	Stanford	24-1-0	11-0-0	NCAA Champion
2016	Stanford	18-2-1	10-1-0	NCAA Second Round
2015	Stanford	19-2-2	10-0-1	NCAA Quarterfinals
2014	Stanford	20-2-3	9-1-1	NCAA Semifinals
2013	Stanford	15-6-1	6-5-0	NCAA Third Round
2012	Stanford	21-2-1	11-0-0	NCAA Semifinals
2011	Stanford	25-0-1	11-0-0	NCAA Champion
2010	Stanford	23-1-2	9-0-0	NCAA Final
2009	Stanford	25-1-0	9-0-0	NCAA Final
2008	Stanford	22-2-1	8-1-0	NCAA Semifinals
2007	Stanford	15-3-5	5-1-3	NCAA Third Round
2006	Stanford	15-6-2	6-2-1	NCAA Third Round
2005	Stanford	10-7-3	4-3-2	NCAA First Round
2004	Stanford	13-6-3	4-3-2	NCAA Second Round
2003	Stanford	10-9-2	5-3-1	NCAA First Round
2002	Saint Mary's	9-9-2	3-3-1	--
2001	Saint Mary's	15-3-2	5-2-0	NCAA Second Round
2000	Saint Mary's	12-6-2	5-2-0	--
1999	Saint Mary's	13-4-1	5-2-0	--
1998	Saint Mary's	6-12-0	3-4-0	--
Stanford	21 Seasons	376-67-39	168-27-18	20 NCAA Appearances
Saint Mary's	5 Seasons	55-34-7	21-13-1	1 NCAA Appearance
Overall	26 Seasons	431-101-46	189-40-19	21 NCAA Appearances