Ryan Cooper Position: Student Assistant Coach Experience: 1st season

Ryan Cooper is in his first season as a student assistant coach for the women's soccer program at USC Upstate. Cooper was a goalkeeper on the Upstate men's soccer team from 2005-06 and helped lead the Spartans to a NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in 2006.

During his senior season, Cooper was selected as a third team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). He was also selected to the NSCAA All-Southeast Region team, the Daktronics Division II Southeast Region team, and the Peach Belt All-Conference team.

Cooper recorded eight shutouts in 2006 and led the Peach Belt with a 0.49 goals against average, which is also an Upstate single-season record. In 2005, he was tops in the Peach Belt in both shutouts (8.5) and goals against average (0.57), and posted four consecutive shutouts during one stretch. He owns the career record for goals against average (0.53) at Upstate.

From Miami, Fla., Cooper is currently majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies and will complete his degree requirements in December.