Soccer
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- mcsalmon@bsu.edu
- Phone:
- (765) 285-2478
Michelle Salmon has guided the Ball State soccer program to new heights in her first two seasons at the helm of the Cardinals. Salmon led the Cardinals to their first ever Mid-American Conference regular season championship with back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. She has posted a 26-9-5 record in her two seasons as BSU head coach while earning back-to-back MAC Coach of the Year honors.
She is coming off of a 13-5-2 record in 2007 that includes a 9-1-1 mark in MAC play. The Cardinals became the first time in MAC history to win back-to-back outright titles and just the third team all-time to win at least a share of consecutive championships. The nine MAC victories are tied for the most in a single season in Ball State history. Ball State finished the season ranked 10th in the Great Lakes Region by the NSCAA and 14th in the Great Lakes Region by Soccerbuzz.
The Cardinals were led by the top defensive unit in the Mid-American Conference and one of the top squads in NCAA Division I. Ball State only allowed 13 goals against on the season and just five goals against in MAC play. The Cardinals finished 16th in the nation in goals against average (0.626) and 35th in shutout percentage (0.50). The five goals allowed in conference play are the fewest allowed by a MAC team in 10-game plus season. Ball State posted a school record seven straight shutouts during the 2007 season and finished the year with 10 shutouts total.
Ball State received numerous accolades for its play last season as a program-record six different players were named to the All-Mid-American Conference team. The six players honored are tied for the most ever in MAC history by a single team. The Cardinals had one player named First Team All-MAC (Annie Aiello) and five players named Second Team All-MAC (Angie Heyer, Rachael Murphy, Jen Vilkoski, Emily Rein and Katelyn Alexander). Freshman Kristina Anderson also becomes just the fourth Cardinal all-time to be named to the MAC All-Freshman Team. Ball State also excelled in the classroom as the Cardinals placed a program-record four players on the Academic All-MAC squad.
In her first season, Salmon guided the Cardinals to their first ever Mid-American Conference regular season championship with a 13-4-3 overall record and an 8-2-1 mark in MAC action. The Cardinals’ 13 victories were tied for third most ever in a single season while the eight conference wins are tied for most in program history. She guided the Cardinals to a regional ranking in nine out of the 13 weeks during her first season (Great Lakes Region ? Soccerbuzz). Under her tutelage, the Cardinals excelled both on and off of the field. The Cardinals had four players earned First Team All-MAC honors (Sarah Maxwell, Amy Holst, Emily Rein and Vandi Ogden), marking the first time in program history that feat has been accomplished. She also placed three players on the NSCAA All-Region team, which is the first time BSU has had multiple players on the All-Region squad. Senior midfielder Amy Holst also became the Cardinals first ever ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American as she earned second team accolades last fall. BSU also had three players named Academic All-MAC under Salmon’s guidance.
Prior to Ball State, Salmon spent six seasons as head coach at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In just her second year at the helm of the program, she led the squad to the Northeast Conference Tournament finals and tutored the Retrievers to a second-place league finish with an 11-6-2 mark. She helped UMBC bounce back from a 5-11-1 record in 2002 -- its last season the Northeast Conference to a 7-8-1 record and a playoff berth in 2003 -- its first year in the America East Conference. The Retrievers qualified for the America East Conference Tournament in two out of three years under Salmon’s guidance.
A former All-American in soccer at Maryland, Salmon served as UMBC’s assistant coach in 1999 before being appointed head coach prior to the 2000 season.
A USSF ?A’ license coach, Salmon has served as a senior regional staff member of the United States Youth Soccer Association, where she helped evaluate players’ development and impact on the regional scene. She has also been the assistant coach of the United States Under-15 National Team and served as the USYSA Under-16 regional team head coach.
Salmon brings a plethora of playing experience to the Ball State program. She captained the Maryland Terrapins in 1997 and 1998 and led the program to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1995 through 1997. In 1996, she was selected as a pre-season All-America candidate. She finished her outstanding career second on the Terrapins’ all-time assists list. Salmon participated on the United States Olympic Festival squad in 1998 and represented the United States as a member of the Under-20 National team from 1993 to 1995, as well as the Under-16 Team in 1991.
Salmon was a high school All-American at Old Mill and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame. She still holds the Anne Arundel County scoring record with 90 goals and 15 assists.
Salmon graduated from Maryland in 1998 with bachelor’s degrees in government and politics and criminology and criminal justice.
