Head Coach Brandon Koons

Head coach Brandon Koons, entering his ninth season at Otterbein, has led the Cardinals into the NCAA Division III Tournament in each of the last three seasons.

In 2006, Otterbein won its second-consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular-season title, finishing 15-3-3 overall and 8-1 in the league.

Koons guided the Cardinals to the best finish in school history in 2005. Otterbein finished 20-1-1 overall, 9-0 in the OAC, and ranked 10th in NCAA Division III. The team advanced to the sectionals of the NCAA Tournament with wins over Mount St. Joseph, 2-1, and Ohio Wesleyan, 4-1, before bowing out to Denison on penalty kicks, 0-0 (4-3 PK), in the third round.

Coach Koons took over the women’s program in 1999 after serving four years as an assistant coach for the Otterbein men’s soccer team. He enjoyed immediate success, leading the Cardinals to a then-school record nine wins. The improvement continued as Otterbein set school records for wins in each succeeding season: tallying 10 in 2000, 11 in 2001, 15 wins each in 2002 and 2003, and 20 in 2005. 

Koons has been selected the OAC Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year in 2000, 2002, and 2004, the Ohio Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year by his peers in 2000, and was named the Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 2005.

A native of Westerville, Koons earned both his undergraduate degree in psychology in 1994 and master’s degree in teaching in 1998 from Otterbein.

While an undergraduate, he played four years on the varsity soccer team, serving as a captain his senior year. He helped implement the men’s junior varsity program and aided in recruiting as an assistant on the Otterbein men’s soccer team from 1995 to 1998.

Koons also coaches under-15 and under-17 girl’s teams for the WASA Ambassador Soccer Club. In the summer, he manages camps for Great Britain Buckeye Soccer Camps, Inc.

Assistant Coach Steve Bartram  

Steve Bartram begins his fifth season as an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team. Bartram is a 1998 graduate of The Ohio State University where he earned a degree in Arts and Sciences. He currently resides in Dublin and is manager at Jeffrey Thomas in Upper Arlington. Bartram was a member of the Cardinal men’s soccer team for two seasons before becoming an assistant coach at Marion Harding High School.