MSU Athletics

Honors

Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year (1): 2021

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Former Midwestern State standout Ryan Spence begins his sixth season at the helm of the women's soccer program in 2023.

Midwestern State won its final three regular season games in 2022 and earned the No. 7 seed in the LSC Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament. MSU eliminated Angelo State in the quarterfinals and upset West Texas A&M in the semifinals. The Mustangs lost to No. 1-ranked Dallas Baptist in the final, 4-1. MSU posted a 9-9-2 record overall and a 5-6-1 mark in conference play.

In his best season since taking the reigns, Spence led the Mustangs to a 12-5-3 record in 2021. MSU finished second in the Lone Star Conference with a 9-1-3 ledger advancing to the NCAA Postseason for the first time since 2017 falling in the first round to Colorado School of Mines. MSU was led by D2CAA All-South Central Region performers Kelly Cannistra (8 goals) and Nicole Marsolek.

The Mustangs battled their way to a 2-7-1 record during the pandemic shortened season in the spring of 2021. MSU claimed an opening round win over UT Tyler in the opening round of the LSC Postseason Tournament behind the efforts of first-team all-conference performers Valentina Carvajal and Reece Wildt.

In 2019, the Mustangs finished 4-12-2, including a 3-9-1 record in Lone Star Conference play. The four wins marked a two-win improvement from Spence's first season. 

Spence guided the Mustangs to a 2-13-3 overall record and a 1-9-2 mark in Lone Star Conference play, earning a trip to the quarterfinals in the LSC Postseason Tournament in his first season with the Maroon and Gold. Junior defender Imani Morlock became Spence's first first team all-conference performer.

Midwestern State welcomed home Spence as the program's fifth women's soccer coach in May of 2018.
 
In his first season as a head coach, Spence led Eastern New Mexico to a strong finish in 2017 which included a pair of victories over his alma mater including a regular season 2-1 win and 4-0 shutout in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament. He posted a 5-9-6 overall mark in his first season as head coach.

Spence served the 2016 season assisting for the men's and women's programs for Claudio Arias at Texas A&M International.

Playing Career

Spence enjoyed a storybook playing career as a three-time All American from 2008-11. He helped the Mustangs amass a 64-10-6 record advancing to the NCAA Division II playoffs in each of his four seasons on the field. MSU reached the Final Four in 2010 following a run to the national quarterfinals in 2008.
 
His play at center back proved key in aiding the Mustangs to top five national showing in each of his three seasons as a starter. Midwestern held the opposition to goals against averages of 0.43, 0.58 and 0.54 with 35 shutouts during the run.
 
Spence also competed in the Premiere Development League (PDL) with the DFW Tornados, St. Louis Lions and Springfield Synergy before starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant under his mentor Doug Elder for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
 
He helped the Mustangs to two more NCAA tournament appearances before earning his Masters of Education in Sports Administration from MSU in 2016.

Personal

Spence and his wife Haylee reside in Wichita Falls. The couple have two sons -- Davis and Keller.

The Spence File

Graduate Assistant at Midwestern State - 2014-15
Assistant Coach at Texas A&M International - 2016
Head Coach at Eastern New Mexico - 2017
Head Coach at Midwestern State - 2018-
 

Year	School	Overall	Conference	Conf. Finish	Conf. Tournament	NCAA Postseason
2022	Midwestern State	9-9-2 (.500)	5-6-1 (.458)	7th	Finals
2021	Midwestern State	12-5-3 (.675	9-1-3 (.808)	2nd	Quarterfinals	NCAA II First Round
2020-21	Midwestern State	2-7-1 (.250)	1-4-1 (.250)		Quarterfinals
2019	Midwestern State	4-12-2 (.278)	3-9-1 (.269)	10th
2018	Midwestern State	2-13-3 (.194)	1-9-2 (.167)	6th	Quarterfinals
2017	Eastern New Mexico	5-9-6 (.400)	3-5-4 (.417)	5th	Semifinals
Totals	5 Seasons	34-55-17 (.401)	26-37-12  (.427)			1 postseason appearance
MSU Totals	4 Seasons	29-46-11 (.413)	19-29-8 (.411)
ENMU Totals	1 Season	5-9-6 (.400)	3-5-4 (.417)