The Idaho women’s spring soccer practices have kicked off, and an experienced coach has been added to their staff.
Neal Ozmun brings seven years of coaching experience to the Palouse. The new assistant coach has been on staff at the likes of Ouachita Baptist University, Idaho State University, Grambling State and most recently, Abilene Christian.
Head coach Jeremy Clevenger is ready for Ozmun, and his experience, to join the coaching staff.
“We’re excited to add Neal to the coaching staff. He is an experienced coach that is very versatile,” Clevenger said. “We look for strong contributions from him with our keepers, outfield players and recruiting.”
Before he took on the coaching ranks, Ozmun was a four-year starting goalkeeper for Ouachita Baptist University. As a goalkeeper, he was the team leader in saves. At the end of his senior season, he led OBU to the Gulf South Conference Tournament for the first time in program history. Ozmun graduated from OBU in 2010 and began coaching there at the start of the 2012 season.
While he was the associate head coach/goalkeeper coach, Ozmun coached an All-American, eight all-region players and thirteen all-conference players.
The goalkeepers under Ozmun averaged 80 percent goal saves and 90 total saves per season. Two of his three goalkeepers received All-Great American conference honors. The other led the Tigers to a conference tournament championship.
After the 2014 season, Ozmun left OBU and took the same role at Idaho State University. Ozmun coached at ISU from 2015-2017, notching three All-Big Sky Conference players.
After his stint at Idaho State, he left to join Grambling State in 2018, which would be his lone year at Grambling. While he was there, he made a significant impact as the two Grambling State goalkeepers combined for 1.02 goals against an average of 61 saves, 13 shutouts and a 73.5% save percentage. The defense surrendered an average of 7.7 shots per game.
The stifling defense helped the offense as they totaled 37 goals overall and 14 shots per game. With the help of Ozmun, the Tigers came one win away from the NCAA tournament, as they lost 1-0 to Howard after posting a 14-8 overall record with a 9-1 conference record.
After his year at Grambling, Ozmun joined Abilene Christian, coaching there from 2019-2023. At ACU, he helped shape two fantastic goalkeeper’s careers, Rachel Johnson and Erin Smith. Both were named all-conference when they were full time starters with Johnson earning the honor in 2019 and Smith earning it after the 2020-2021 season. Ozmun helped lead the Wildcats to two Southland postseason appearances with an overall record of 34-30-9.
Ozmun’s track record with goalkeepers will be a key piece as returning starter freshman Kira Witte will be a developer for Ozmun. Witte was already an outstanding keeper, posting double digits shutouts and having a remarkable freshman season. With Ozmun at the helm of her development, Witte will be looking to break through her ceiling next season.
Ozmun will bring the winning attitude, championship pedigree and experience to a team ready for a Big Sky Championship. The Vandals will look to repeat their success of the past fall, get over the hump and book a spot in the NCAA tournament come November.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10