Coaching Staff

The University of Mary women's soccer team lives by the creed "It's not what happens, it's how you react!" according to head coach Levi Evans. He encourages the Marauders to strive to win on the field, in the classroom, and within the community.

Entering his fifth season at the helm of the U-Mary women’s soccer team, Evans is creating a powerful program that qualified for the 2007 NCAA regional tournament in the Marauders first season of post-season eligibility. U-Mary finished the 2007 season 16-7 overall and ranked fourth in the region.

The Marauders quickly has made its mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. In two years as a member of the NSIC, U-Mary has captured the conference tournament championship in both seasons (2006 and 2007). U-Mary proved itself a defensive juggernaut in the post-season and has yet to give up a goal in six NSIC playoff games. U-Mary has won all its tournament games by a 1-0 score.

Since moving to the Northern Sun and NCAA in 2006, several Marauders have earned academic and athletic honors under Evan’s tutelage. U-Mary has had one NCAA All-American (third team), six NCAA all-region honors (three first team, one second and two third), two NSIC tournament most valuable players, nine NSIC all-tournament players, eight NSIC all-conference players (two first team, three second team, three honorable mention) and 21 NSIC All-Academic performers.

Evans took control of the Marauders in 2004 and led U-Mary to a 15-7-1 overall record and a third straight trip to the NAIA national tournament for U-Mary. This success led to his earning Region III Coach of the Year honors as voted on by his peers.

As the Marauders began to make the transition to NCAA Division II from NAIA, U-Mary finished 8-8-2 in 2005 and 9-9-3 in 2006 before the University of Mary was granted active membership in fall 2007. In his four years as head coach, Evans had compiled a record of 48-31-7, a winning percentage of .598.

Evans attended U-Mary from 1996-2000. As a Marauder soccer player, he received honors including Honorable Mention All-American, Team Captain, and Team MVP. He started his coaching career as U-Mary's assistant women's soccer coach from 2000-2002, during which time the Marauders had winning seasons and qualified for their first-ever national tournament. Evans returned to the university in 2004 as the head coach after coaching soccer in Gillette, WY.

Also the Coordinator of the U-Mary Men’s and Women’s Soccer Operations, Evans will oversee certain aspects of both soccer programs, including scheduling of games and budgeting. While the women’s team is part of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the men’s squad plays an NCAA Division II independent schedule. By combining efforts, the two programs look to schedule doubleheader dates with opponents, share coaching duties and more.

Dedicated to his profession and the game of soccer, Evans has a United States Soccer Federation "A" License, United States Soccer Federation "Y" License, as well as a Premier Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Evans holds a masters degree in management from U-Mary and earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Mary in 2000.

Paul Stubbs
Assistant Coach

Paul Stubbs, the first University of Mary women's soccer head coach, returns to the sidelines in 2008 to assist the program he started from scratch over a decade earlier.

Stubbs served as head coach of the inaugural women’s soccer program at University of Mary in 1995 and held the position for four seasons. During that time, the Marauders compiled a record of 42-23-1 and a winning percentage of .643, best of any coach in school history.

A native of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, Stubbs received a degree in Photography from Ealing Technical College, London, in 1973. He emigrated to United States in August 1979 and married Brenda Stubbs (Hegney), a 1974 University of Mary graduate who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education.

After arriving in the United States, Stubbs coached in middle school, Bismarck Soccer League, summer traveling and adult leagues during the 1980s and 1990s. He obtained USSF referee and referee assessor certification and was a founding member of the Bismarck Mandan Soccer Referees Association. Stubbs was the co-coach of the first affiliated girls high school soccer team in Bismarck and went on to be involved with the Bismarck High girls soccer program from its inception until 2006. BHS attained two North Dakota high school state soccer championships during this period.

Stubbs became president of ND Futsal in 2003. He was also president of the Indoor Soccer Association for several years and co-coached the “007” traveling girls team that qualified for the Futsal National Championships. He has earned a USSF “C” coaching license.

Following a two year respite from “all things soccer,” Stubbs has been coaxed back from retirement to enjoy the energy and camaraderie of the U-Mary women’s program. While his full time job at the Department of Transportation as a Project Manager in the Surveys and Photogrammetry section will limit the amount of time he can spend with the team in training, head coach Levi Evans and Coach Stubbs will pool their knowledge and experience to analyze the team’s performance at all of their match venues.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to be involved in the sport that has given me so many memorable experiences through the years," said Stubbs. "The four years that I spent developing the Women’s program were challenging but enormously gratifying. Ten years later and the team is a major force to be reckoned with, collecting individual and team honors season after season! Coach Evans and his staff have assembled a remarkable program and I hope my experience and passion for the game can add just a little to the advancement of the team.”

Nicole Benedict
Graduate Assistant Coach
Second Year

A three-time NAIA All-America and the University of Mary's all-time leading goal scorer, Nicole Benedict joined the Marauders coaching staff in 2007.

As a U-Mary player, Benedict was a first team NAIA All-American in 2003 and earned honorable mention honors in 2002 and 2004. She set the school record for goals scored in a single season with 27 in 2003. Benedict owns the Marauders career record for goals scored with 66 and career points with 153 (66 goals, 21 assists). She playerd for the Marauders from 2002-2005.