Chris Pfau

Last College: Old Dominion '89 Position: Head Coach Joined UH: June 2012

Chris Pfau became the fourth head coach in University of Houston women's soccer history with his hiring in June 2012.

Pfau - whose name is pronounced Fow - joined the Cougars after spending four seasons at Akron. There, he helped lead the Zips to the 2009 MAC East Division championship and three straight Mid-American Conference Tournaments (2009-11).

In his first season as head coach at Houston, Pfau led the Cougars to a 3-4-3 Conference USA record (7-9-3 overall) and the team's first postseason berth since the 2010 season. Pfau also coached four Cougars (Cami Koski, Katelyn Rhodes, Kaci Bush and Kylie Cook) to All-Conference honors.

Prior to Pfau's arrival, Akron women's soccer had produced only one winning season and no MAC Tournament berths in its first eight years of existence before Pfau led the Zips to a MAC East Division championship and three straight MAC Tournaments.

His squads also excelled in the classroom, boasting a team 3.3 cumulative grade-point average and four student-athletes from the 2011 team with a 3.7 GPA or higher.

In seven seasons as an NCAA Division I head coach, Pfau has compiled a 60-58-11 overall record.

"Chris has a tremendous understanding on how to build a championship program and will be a great fit within our athletics family. He is exceptional strategically on the field during competition and has demonstrated throughout his career the ability to develop student-athletes to perform at their highest levels both on and off the field," Rhoades said. "He is a terrific recruiter who cares about his student-athletes, and I know parents and coaches will want their kids to play for him. We are very excited to have Chris, Tracey, Paige and Connor join our family and look forward to the start of the 2012 season."

Before joining Akron, Pfau spent three seasons (2005-07) as head coach at Evansville, where he rebuilt a program that resulted in the Aces becoming one of the nation's most improved teams. There, he posted a 30-22-4 record, winning 10+ matches each season and leading the team to the Missouri Valley Conference finals in 2006 and a semifinal berth and No. 7 regional ranking in 2007.

In addition to his on-field success, those teams enjoyed tremendous academic achievement. Six Academic All-MVC honors were bestowed upon the Aces during his three years, including a league-best three in 2007. That same season, Evansville posted a team grade-point average higher than 3.0 and received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Team Academic Award.

Pfau took over the Evansville program after two seasons (2003-04) as the top assistant coach at Princeton. In 2004, the Tigers went undefeated in Ivy League play and reached the College Cup national semifinals, the first Ivy League school to advance that far.

A 1989 graduate of Old Dominion, he played professionally for 10 years in the APSL, NPSL and WSL. He began his coaching career while playing, serving as head coach of the Cincinnati United Soccer Club from 1995 to 1999 and as assistant coach of the Cincinnati Riverhawks of the A-League from 1997 to 1999.

He was a team captain, four-year starter and All-Region performer during his collegiate career at ODU and earned his bachelor's degree in hotel/restaurant management in 1989.

Pfau served as men's head coach at NAIA's Mount Marty College in Yankton, S.D., from 1999 to 2002 and became head women's coach at Division III Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind. He also has been an Olympic Development Program coach in New Jersey, Ohio and Indiana since 1996.

Pfau and his wife Tracey have a daughter, Paige and a son, Connor.

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