BOONE, N.C. – On the heels of the Mountaineers best conference finish in program history,
Mark Catterall has been promoted to Associate Head Coach, Head Coach
Aimee Haywood announced Friday.
"I'd like to thank Aimee, Deputy Athletics Director Jonathan Reeder and Director of Athletics Doug Gillin for this opportunity and I look forward to rewarding their continued faith in me," Catterall said. "I'm very proud of the work done by both our staff and players over the past two years and I'm excited to continue to contribute to the rise of App State Soccer."
"I'm excited to elevate Mark to this position after two very strong seasons in our program here at App," Haywood said. "He has been with me every step of the way as we have developed this program from the ground up and I am excited about the future trajectory of our program."
Working primarily with App State defenders, Catterall helped lead the Mountaineers to a program-record eight shutouts in 2023, and 14 clean sheets across his first two seasons with the program. The Mountaineers conceded just 16 goals in 2023, marking the fewest allowed in a season in program history.
The defensive excellence in 2023 was highlighted by a program-record-tying four-match shutout streak from Aug. 20 through Sept. 3 that saw the Mountaineers outscore their opponents 8-0.
Not only has Catterall helped lead the way for a resurgent program at App State, but he also was an assistant on Haywood's Queens staff that reached the second round of the NCAA Division II Championships in 2021.
Over the course of his coaching career, Catterall has consistently achieved postseason success. He helped navigate the St. Edward's (Texas) women's team to the Elite 8 in 2013 and to the Sweet 16 in 2015, while guiding the St. Edward's men's team to the NCAA tournament in 2016, as part of a staff that was recognized as the NSCAA Southwest Region Staff of the year.
In between two stints at St. Edward's, Catterall led the Bridgeport (Conn.) women's team to an NCAA tournament appearance in 2014. Then in his first season at Queens in 2017, he again led the Royals to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
A successful player at Bangor University in Wales (U.K.), Catterall helped lead his team to a pair of Welsh University National Cup Finals.
