The University of Texas Permian Basin is looking to capitalize on past successes with the hiring of Carla Tejas as its women’s soccer head coach.
Tejas, the fourth coach in program history, comes after directing a complete turnaround of the Louisiana Christian College program in Pineville, La.
While heading the Wildcats, Tejas guided the team to a 16-2-1 record last season, earning them a place in the NAIA National Tournament. Just two seasons earlier, the team had gone 1-16-1 and had never been to the postseason. That is considered one of the biggest turnarounds in college soccer, utpbfalcons.com reported.
Tejas got her feet wet in coaching as a graduate assistant at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. Her focus there was on the goalkeepers, since she had been a goalie when she played.
With her focus on defending the net, Louisiana Christian went from allowing 3.76 goals per game the season before Tejas arrived to 1.55 in her final season there.
Tejas earned a bachelor’s degree in business at Louisiana State University Alexandria, then a master’s in business administration at Belhaven.
The UTPB Falcons struggled last season, ending with a 2-16 record.