Paul Hart, the Catarina Macario Assistant Women's Soccer Coach, enters his fifth season with Stanford women's soccer in 2025.
Playing its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024, Hart helped guide Stanford back to the College Cup for a second consecutive year – the only team to manage the feat. The Cardinal went 16-5-2 overall, including 5-4-1 in the ACC, but missed the ACC Tournament. Using the respite from play, the Cardinal hit its stride as the postseason arrived, advancing past UC Santa Barbara, UConn, Arkansas and Notre Dame to punch a ticket to an All-ACC College Cup featuring Stanford, North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest. The Cardinal ultimately fell 1-0 to Wake Forest in a national semifinal. Four players earned All-ACC recognition following the regular season, with Jasmine Aikey and Mia Bhuta claiming second-team honors. Elise Evans landed on the third team, while freshman Eleanor Klinger earned a spot on the All-ACC Freshman Team. Bhuta, Aikey and Evans each were named All-Atlantic Region, as Bhuta earned a spot on the first team while Aikey and Evans landed on the fourth team. Bhuta, who scored three goals and assisted on two more for eight points while logging 1,849 minutes in Stanford's midfield, was the lone Cardinal to earn All-America honors after being named to United Soccer Coaches’ fourth team. Working directly with the goalkeepers, Hart saw the Cardinal post 12 shutouts and a 0.78 goals against average. Stanford's starting goalkeeper, Haley Craig, finished the year with 11 shutouts to rank second in the ACC and seventh in the nation.
Hart helped lead 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. Stanford finished the year 20-1-4 overall and posted an 8-0-3 mark in its final season in the Pac-12 Conference. Working directly with the goalkeepers, Hart mentored Ryan Campbell to 2023 Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year honors while seeing his keepers post 13 shutouts. Campbell would also earn a spot on the United Soccer Coaches All-Region first team while ranking first in the Pac-12 in goals against average (0.601) and save percentage (.822). Stanford finished the season ranked first in the Pac-12 and 14th nationally in goals against average (.595) while averaging 2.16 goals per game to rank second in the Pac-12.
In his second season with Stanford, Hart helped lead the Cardinal to a Pac-12 title in 2022. Stanford 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 earned a national-best five All-Region selections, including goalkeeper Ryan Campbell, and was the only team in the nation to feature four first-team honorees. Hart saw the Cardinal post 12 shutouts while limiting opponents to just .54 goals per match – best in the Pac-12 and sixth nationally.
Hart helped guide Stanford to a 13-6-1 overall record and 7-3-1 mark in Pac-12 play during the 2021 season, finishing fourth in the conference and punching a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Hart’s goalkeepers limited opponents to just .85 goals per game in his inaugural season on The Farm. Stanford recorded a shutout in each of the first three matches with Hart on staff, eventually finishing the year with nine clean sheets.
Prior to arriving at Stanford, Hart spent the 2020-21 season on staff at Pac-12 rival Washington. Under Hart’s guidance, the Huskies posted one of their best campaigns, concluding the 2021 spring season with a 10-4-4 record, a Sweet Sixteen appearance, a third-place finish in the Pac-12 and a pair of top 15 rankings – No. 14 TopDrawer Soccer and No. 15 United Soccer Coaches.
Under his tutelage, Husky goalkeepers limited the opposition to a program-record 12 goals on the season. Olivia Sekany had one of the best season by a Husky goalkeeper, setting the program record for goals-against-average (0.62), while her eight clean sheets were tied for the fourth-most in a single season.
Prior to his time in the Pacific Northwest, Hart spent two seasons at Oklahoma as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, including a three-month stint as the interim head coach.
Hart has extensive roots in California, having spent time at San Francisco (2016-18) as an associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, and at UC Santa Barbara (2012-16). With the Gauchos he served as the goalkeeper’s coach for both the men’s and women’s programs (2012-14), helping the men’s team to Big West titles in 2013 and 2014. Hart also spent 2014-16 as UC Santa Barbara’s head strength and conditioning coach. The Gauchos swept the Big West titles in men’s and women’s soccer, with the men advancing to the Sweet Sixteen. UC Santa Barbara also won the Big West Commissioner’s Cup in 2015.
A former professional goalkeeper, Hart is a 2004 graduate of West Texas A&M. He was the Lone Star Conference’s Goalkeeper of the Year all four seasons while pursuing his degree in sport and exercise science. He also has a Master’s of Science in sports performance and injury prevention from California University (Pennsylvania).