Commonwealth University – Lock Haven Women’s Soccer – Coach Jesse Urquhart

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Jesse from the Lock Haven Women’s Program in Pennsylvania. We talk about his recruiting timeline taking over a program. He describes the tight-knit campus community and invested players. Lastly, we discuss how the school is part of the Commonwealth University system. Learn more about Commonwealth University – Lock Haven Women’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Jesse Urquhart from Lock Haven in Pennsylvania. Welcome coach. 

Coach: Thanks for having me. 

Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. As I said, I’m, I’m rocking and rolling with the, with the PSAC schools. Uh, you know, I mean, it is a, you know, it’s one of those just tough, solid division two conferences, uh, top to bottom.

Um, so you just jumped on board end of May, I guess, uh, to, to take the helm. So. What was it like coming in kind of right at that point in terms of the recruits that you had coming in for for 24? Um, and then how has it been looking at at 25? Have you started 26? It’s at all kind of what do you see your timeline moving forward?

Coach: Yeah, um, you know, for coming in at the end of this semester really started this summer. Um, I wasn’t necessarily and this goes to my recruiting philosophy that I’m sure we’ll talk about later. Um, I wasn’t necessarily going to rock the boat. Um, my, my goal for the players that are here, the kids that are incoming, uh, previously committed 2024s.

Um, I like to think they chose Lock haven because it’s the best fit for them. It’s going to provide the experience they’re looking for. So I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that I help develop them as players and as people. Um, I mean, got a big [00:01:30] roster, a big roster of 27, but 11 of them are either grad students or seniors.

So I look at it as an opportunity in 25 to bring in 10 to 12 players. Um, So I feel like I’m, I feel like I’m a little behind on the 2025s, but again, I want to make sure that I find people who want to be here because it’s the best fit for them. We can provide the experience that they’re looking for. Um, they fit my vision for the program, so I don’t want to rush that process.

Um, and yeah, we’re starting to have, I’m starting to have conversations with some of our 26s, but my primary focus is our 25s and honestly continue to get to know the. The current players. Sure. No, that’s it. That’s 

Matt: always, uh, you got to know who’s on the field first before the ones that might be on the field later on.

Yes. Um, so when it comes to finding players, 25, 26 is whatever are, are there specific events you like to go to places you want to make sure you’re at? 

Coach: Yeah, um, I think there’s a lot of a lot of good players clubs within our region within a couple hours of the campus, whether it’s going west of Pittsburgh, east to Philadelphia, Jersey, Delaware.

So there are a handful of events that I like to attend, but I’m big on camps clinics. Um, and [00:03:00] everywhere that I’ve been in my 16 years in college soccer, a large majority of the players that. I’ve coached, I’ve recruited, um, have been to campus, have been able to not only play on campus, but we’ve been able to work with them in those training sessions during camps and clinics.

Um, yeah, there’s a combination of, yeah, we, we certainly invest time in the people who reach out. to us as a program to express an interest. Um, but I also do my due diligence, um, whether it’s online, in person, trying to find players who I think fit certain roles or positions that we’re looking to either specifically recruit or improve.

Matt: Okay. Well, in terms of, um, camps, you know, I, I feel like there’s been a whole lot of chatter on social media about, uh, ID camps, uh, and how many you should go to, what age you should be, should you make sure you have a relationship with the coach before you step foot, uh, at a camp, um, kind of just give me your perspective on, on, I guess all of those things, and then kind of tell me a little bit about, Okay.

Maybe obviously you haven’t had any yet, but historically, do you find a player from, do you find players from camps that just weren’t on your radar before? 

Coach: Yeah. Um, I, as, as the head coach [00:04:30] here, I have a graduate assistant. We don’t have a staff of four people, three people. So I have to use my time, my resources wisely.

Um, yeah, in the summers I like to, you know, do Do as much as I can, um, in the camp realm, whether it’s hosting or joining other programs, um, but if I’m in a camp with two, 300 people, I mean, it’s a great experience, but how many of those players do I actually get to see perform? You know, I might turn my head to a field and someone scores a world a year, keeper makes a phenomenal save.

Maybe that was their only good moment of the camp, right? Um, so by coming to, you know, our camp or clinic, you know, I want to make them first and foremost affordable for families. Um, we had one two weeks ago, August 3rd. Um, I think it was 30, 30. Um, it’s truly an opportunity for those 40 participants to get to see campus.

Um, you know, I invite other coaches, um, from, you know, local colleges to attend as well. Because the reality is of those 40 players, we may be only recruiting or interested in 10, 15, 20 of them. Um, so. I want to also be able to provide them an opportunity to play in front of other coaches who maybe say, you know what, you’re not ready or prepared for this level.

But here’s some other coaches whose programs levels that maybe better suit your abilities to have a [00:06:00] great college soccer experience. Um, I see value in. all sorts of camps and clinics. I don’t think there’s any one right way to do it. Um, I just try to, if it’s a Lockhaven camp or clinic, I try to set it up so that it provides the players participating, um, an opportunity to get to know me as a coach, um, showcase their abilities.

One of the things that I like to do right off the bat is we show up after brief introductions, you warm up and then we’re into 11s. We’re playing versus let’s do all the small sided stuff at the beginning of camp. You’re on your feet for two, three, four hours and then play 11s at the end of the day. Um, yeah, pros and cons to doing it various ways.

But, um, yeah, there’s, there’s certainly, you know, we talked about 20 25s earlier. Um, had a handful of 20 25s and I’ve, you know, been busy all week with phone calls, emails, following up to Provide evaluations, recruiting from that pool. Um, so there is certainly value in them, especially for not just Lock Haven, but other colleges who maybe don’t have the resources to fly coast to coast.

Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, in terms of whether it’s at a camp or in a tournament or whatever it is, What is it that you’re looking for in a player? What is it that attracts you to someone, whether that’s on the field stuff or off the field [00:07:30] stuff? 

Coach: Yeah, um, I say this to all the players, um, whether current players, recruits, former club players that I’ve coached, I look for hard working problem solvers.

And a couple of the conversations I’ve had following our camp, relates specifically to that, right? You show up to a camp where you’re placed on a team with 10 players that you probably don’t know, and you’re asked to play 11 a side and showcase your abilities. You have to work hard, but you also have to solve problems.

I got to figure out as a center back. What can my left back do? What can my other center back do? Is my goalkeeper able to play with her feet? What’s her technical ability like? Um, you know, we had one center back at our camp who we’re currently, you know, talking to, hoping to recruit, hoping she’ll commit.

And, um, one of the first things I noticed when she hopped on the field is she’s looking around, pointing at people, getting names. And then once we started playing, she’s already organizing things. I love that. I love the fact that she’s. Working hard vocally to, to solve problems, to figure out who the players were.

And as, as the games went on, she took more of a leadership role within that team. And I saw how it affected some of the other players playing around her. Um, and so it’s the same thing for whether you’re a center mid center forward, you’re working hard to solve [00:09:00] problems. And those problems can be, I’m having trouble beating my defender.

Or I’m, I’m making all these movements, but I’m not getting the ball. It’s easy as coaches, as players to point out all the problems, all the issues that we’re having. I look for people. We’ll try to solve those problems. 

Matt: Okay. Awesome. Well, 1 of the things that has blown up over the last couple of years and is poised to blow up even more with.

Potential new regulations is the transfer portal. So, as a, you know, as a tough division to conference and program in there. Do you guys look at the transfer portal at all to maybe get, look at some of those D1 kids who didn’t quite maybe find the right fit on the first go around or, or is that something you guys tend not to look too much at?

Coach: Um, it varies. Uh, you know, a couple, couple of years ago, I know I was looking, certainly looking for players that can help contribute to the team, but it’s also looking at, Hey, do I know anyone from previous colleges, previous club players that I might’ve. coached or worked with, um, There’s pros and cons to the portal.

I personally won’t spend a ton of time in the portal. Um, Yeah, i’ll take a look every now and again But I think there’s so much effort that has to go [00:10:30] into the portal to get a player that may only have a You know, a year or two left of eligibility, um, there’s always backstories that I think we may not know about as to why that player might be transferring, um, and, you know, again, every situation is unique, and I don’t want to, I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but if that player is leaving for a number of reasons, legitimate, or otherwise, um, what are the chances that that player is going to come here and then want to leave again?

I like to think if I do my homework and due diligence in the recruiting process that I’ll be able to find people who want to be here for four years, um, and that I won’t have to necessarily go into the portal. 

Matt: All right. Fair enough. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. I’m sure there’s folks out there not familiar with Lockhaven.

Uh, so you’ve been there now for a few months, but, uh, what is it that attracted you to Lock haven? What, what have you found, uh, there that you didn’t know about? That’s awesome. Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website. 

Coach: Yeah. Um, the big one for me is that the people in the community, um, I’ve never been personally a fan of the bigger colleges where I feel like [00:12:00] I’m in a city.

I’m 2 to get from building to building. Um, I like to think I’m a people person. I enjoy having conversations. I enjoy experiences as a whole. And so. And when I, when I first stepped on the campus, as I got to meet people, uh, sitting down in front of the players, I mean, I’m pretty sure every single returning player attended, um, the, the interview portion, uh, their, their Q and A portion of my interview.

And I thought clearly they’re invested. Um, even though they were getting ready for finals that week, they, they still took time to, to grill me for, for a little more than an hour. Um, yeah, it’s, it’s a, it’s a campus that has somewhere around 3000 students, um, smaller downtown that has a bunch of mom and pop shops.

I mean, last night it was a gorgeous night. I. Walk, walked around town for an hour or two. Um, it’s around campus. There’s quite a few things to do if you enjoy the outdoors. Um, you know, I’m looking forward to when the little league world series, um, gets going because Williamsport is about 30 minutes away from us here.

So if if someone’s looking for. You know, a college, it certainly is is a little [00:13:30] smaller, but doesn’t feel like, you know, high school. So I like to say, um, if you’re looking to be involved in a, in a campus that is really embraced by the community and and vice versa, then, um, yeah, this is this is the place for you.

Matt: Oh, that’s awesome. Well, One of the hardest things for especially new students coming into college and playing soccer is really striking that balance between academics and athletics and making sure they’re, you know, their time and, and everything is divided appropriately as they try to be successful in both places.

So, I know you really haven’t been there while school’s been on yet, but, um, talk to me how. About how you see your, your students really making sure they balance both sides of that coin and maybe what support services does the school offer to help them in that? 

Coach: Um, you know, for me, the, the finding the right balance for the individual goes back to the recruiting process.

Um, you know, I talk briefly about, you know, at, at this level, um, you know, I spent a number of years, you know, coaching in division three. And one of the big differences from a commitment to Level is our Springs are Springs. We’re together a lot more. We’re doing a lot more soccer related activities than you know, when I was there was 16 days of team training in the spring.

Now it’s 24. Um, and so I say you have to [00:15:00] really enjoy not just soccer. But being around your team, being responsible, um, for how your attitudes and actions affect the team, um, that the program. And so for players that think, you know, I love soccer, but I don’t necessarily want to do it as much in the spring.

Um, I don’t necessarily want to be as competitive as maybe some of my teammates, my peers, then maybe this isn’t the best place. This isn’t the level for you. So I like to think that through the recruiting process, we identify players who want. To be involved in soccer and the program 8, 9 months out of the year.

Obviously, their summers are kind of their downtime while preparing for the fall. Um, yeah, on campus. I say this all the time. Like my goal as much as I hate losing more than I like winning. But my goal isn’t to. Prepare these players to go play in the NWSL or go play for Barcelona City. The goal is to provide an exceptional playing experience while preparing them for life after college, whether that’s in, you know, nursing, um, a number of health science programs that we offer, um, business, law.

So we have to, I have to as, as a coach, make sure that I prepare them [00:16:30] with schedules in advance. Um, I like to often over explain things and I’ve already apologized to the team once or twice about that. I want to make sure that what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, um, is understood by the individuals in the collective group, because I think if we understand why we’re doing something, right, the trust, the process, um, I think it helps to create better buy in.

And I think that goes a long way in creating not just that physical balance of I have to, you know, we’re in the weight room this morning, we’re training, I’ve got classes, but that mental and emotional, I understand why I’m doing this. I understand the benefits. I may not see them right now, but I trust that my teammates, my coaches, You know, we’re all in this together, trying to become not just a better soccer program, but better people along the way and and prepare for life after college.

And then on campus, we have a student success center. So plenty of resources from from tutors to career advice. Um, 1 of the things that I’m still. Learning about, but I’ve had a great experience so far. My two months here is the connections and the, um, the involvement of our alum. They love the college.

They love the program. [00:18:00] Um, and I think that is one of the most underutilized resources. You graduate here and you have, you know, a connection that maybe works in the same field that you’re looking to get into, whether it’s getting you a job, an internship, or just offering advice on, hey, here was my path to success.

Um, I think our alum base are going to be great role models, great advisors for our current and future student athletes. 

Matt: Awesome. Well, one question, and it popped up as, uh, as I was talking to, uh, to Clarion, uh, as well, because they’ve kind of had the same thing now they are like. One leg of a three legged stool of Penn West, and it looks like Lockhaven is one leg of a three legged stool of the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania.

So, what exactly does that mean? Does it have any real benefits or, you know, Detriments of being part of that. What have you seen in that regard? 

Coach: Yeah, um, I won’t pretend to be an expert on all of the benefits, but my understanding is we are 1st and foremost, we are still, you know, lock Haven soccer. We are our own brand and identity.

The same as any of our athletic programs at any of the 3 campuses. Um, [00:19:30] my understanding is, you know, Being part of this tri campus Commonwealth, um, it provides more opportunities from an academic standpoint for all of our students. Um, the opportunities to take classes at other colleges and or online within the Commonwealth, um, and it helps to keep the cost of tuition down.

I don’t know offhand if it’s 3 or 4 years now, but tuition at Lock Haven has been about 7700 dollars. If a student has a 3. 8 or a 4. 0, at least last year, an in state student, they automatically earned 5, 000 in academic scholarship, dropping their tuition to around 2, 700. So I think that the benefits Are for the student, not just the student athletes, but, but the students see the benefits from a financial standpoint, as well as, you know, the opportunity for more academic offerings.

Matt: Awesome. Okay. Let’s fast forward a couple of months here. Let’s put it right in October. Part of the conference season real quick. Just walk me through what you see a typical week looking like for a player in terms of when is practice classes, meals, the game canes, all that kind of thing. 

Coach: Yeah. Um, Our conference, as you [00:21:00] mentioned, you’ve, you’ve had a couple of conversations on with PSAC coaches.

Um, our schedule is pretty much Wednesday, Saturday, um, because we’re divided East and West. We, uh, bigger conference. We have home and aways with all of our opponents. And so I like that. It gives a very professional feel. CPL Bundesliga, right? You’re, you’re expected to get points at home and you’re hoping to steal points on the road.

Um, because of the, the Wednesday, Saturday, uh, Breakdown. Um, you know, we, we train in the evenings. Um, I like to train in the evenings knowing that we’re typically going to play our games in the evenings. So from that kind of internal clock, I think it makes sense. Um, our training sessions are scheduled for 90 minutes.

Monday is probably the most intense session of the week. Tuesday is the day before a game. So we’re going over our opponent scouts. Um, we’re playing some competitive, Games, we’re working on some positional development, um, specific to that game. Wednesday’s game day, Thursday, is a combination of recovery for players that maybe played 60, 70 plus minutes.

Um, for the other players, it’s maintaining sharpness and we’re still together and involved. It just [00:22:30] means maybe slightly less reps for the players who are doing you know, more of an active recovery from the game. Friday’s the day before a game again, um, Saturday’s game day and Sundays typically are off day.

Matt: Okay. Well, um, let’s talk a little bit more about the team. Obviously you said you’ve got, uh, the GA there to help you with, but, um, what other support staff maybe work within the athletic department that help out with the team and kind of what are their roles? 

Coach: Oh, yeah, we I mean, from our athletic training staff, um, sports information, um, we have our game day operations manager, our senior women’s advisor.

Um, I mean, the staff have been fantastic. Just helping me get acclimated to all the different policies and procedures. Um, without them, I’d be lost my 2 months. Um, you know, the men’s soccer coach, Patrick long, um, you know, He’s been here, I think, going into his 8th season now. Um, he’s been he’s been fantastic where our offices are right next door.

So we’re, we’re constantly talking about how we can improve the experience for our student athletes. Um, not just on the field, but off the field as well. And, you know, I, someone said it years ago, or at least I heard it years ago, right? That the best coaches are [00:24:00] thieves. And so I’ve already And it thought about, okay, when can I watch Patrick’s training?

Um, you know, our, our football is back on campus field hockey. If I can take some time to, to steal. You know, some stuff from those coaches just observe their trainings. Um, you know, we’re all housed in the same office or wing. Excuse me. And so I’ve I’ve already, you know, quite in depth conversations with a number of coaches and other sports, um, to just try to become, you know, a better coach for the student athletes.

So the one thing I am not concerned about is being able to problem solve with other coaches. Um, Again, soccer or otherwise, um, there are a lot of coaches here who’ve been at Lockhaven, proud alum for a number of years now. So, yeah, the support services for our student athletes, honestly, they’re the least of my concerns.

Matt: That’s good. Always good. Well, what about you as a coach? What’s the style of play you’re looking to play there? Uh, you know, what kind of things are you looking to implement on the field? 

Coach: Yeah. Um, I mean, the biggest thing for me is I want, I want people who compete. I want competitors. Um, you know, the, the style that I like to [00:25:30] play, I refer to as possession with an emphasis on attacking.

Um, like I’m, I’m like 95 percent of the coaches out there. I would love to play a beautiful game and complete 15 and 20 passes before, you know, scoring a worldly. But the reality is that. The more time, you know, if we talk about building out of the back, right, the more time that we spend trying to connect passes in our own half, the percentages get higher for the likelihood of a turnover or a mistake.

So, no, I don’t want to just kick the ball 60 yards and chase, but if we can build out and get into the midfield, get into our forwards in three or four passes, then let’s get into the middle third. Let’s play forward. A little more than we do back or side to side. Um, you know, I I’ve said this to a handful of people now and I think goalkeepers, especially maybe, you know, roll their eyes at me, but I’d rather win a game 5 to 2 than 1 nothing.

I like the attacking side of the game. I also think for the players, whether you’re the 11 on the field or the players on the sideline, I find that game to be a more exciting players. I think are more invested versus, Hey, we’re going to park the bus. We’re going to play in a low block and just counter attack all day.

There there’s certainly a time and a place for those tactics. Um, [00:27:00] but. The style that I want to play is going to be an attacking minded style. We’re going to get numbers forward. We’re going to take chances and we’re going to trust that our defenders, our goalkeepers, our midfielders are going to work to.

Mitigate some risk. 

Matt: Well, coach, you’ve been super generous with your time. I got one last question for you. Uh, and that is if you had one piece of advice or something you feel all recruits should know, uh, about going through this crazy college soccer recruiting journey, what would that be? Um, 

Coach: everyone talks about finding the right fit.

I think that’s the foot in the door. I think the best piece of advice that I was ever given and that I try to give is forget about fit. Yeah, it’s the foot in the door. You need to figure out, can that college provide the experience you’re looking for? Academic experience, athletic experience, um, and even a social experience from the class sizes, campus size, location.

Because there are dozens, hundreds of schools that it’s the athlete. athletic fit, or it’s the academic fit I’m looking for, but can that nursing program, can that PT program, can that law program provide the experience you’re looking for? So that would be my advice, [00:28:30] is dive deeper into the experience that that school can potentially provide.

Matt: 100 percent agree. Well, coach, really appreciate the time. Wish you the best of luck here in this, uh, first conference season. And, uh, if you get down to, uh, EC and L event down here, Lakewood ranch, uh, in January, let me know and we’ll get together. All right, 

Coach: sounds good. Thanks man. I appreciate your time.