Since taking over the women's soccer program in 2008, head coach Carly Pearce has molded the Averett program into a conference champion. In just her fifth season, Pearce guided Averett to the 2012 USA South Conference regular season and tournament titles and a NCAA Tournament appearance — all firsts for the Cougars' program.
In her seven seasons as Averett's head coach, Pearce helped establish consistency throughout the women's soccer program. After building the program up in her first two seasons, Pearce's Cougars broke through in 2010 with a then-program-best 13-7 record. The season culminated with the program's first-ever appearance in the USA South Conference championship game. That trend continued in 2011 as Averett set a new record for overall wins with a 14-3-1 mark and another USA South semifinals appearance.
In 2012, after the Cougars lost three of their first four games, Averett won a team-record 16 games in a row, including an 11-0 mark in the USA South, to claim the program's first conference regular season crown. Averett then advanced to the conference tournament championship, where the Cougars beat Christopher Newport University 3-2 in overtime to win their first tournament title and earned the USA South's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Pearce earned USA South Coach of the Year honors in process as the team finished 17-4 overall. She was also named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Region Coach of the Year.
Her 2013 squad finished 12-6-1 overall and 9-2-1 in the USA South. The Cougars had six all-conference performers, including the USA South Player of the Year. After losing 17 seniors to graduation from that 2013 team, she guided a young Cougars roster to a 5-13 overall record and a 5-7 mark in the conference.
The program's upswing began in Pearce's first season at the helm in 2008, when her team finished 9-8-1 overall. After losing a bulk of the team's scoring from the previous season, Pearce's 2009 squad finished 7-10-1.
Averett has produced 43 all-conference selections during Pearce's tenure, including a program-best 10 all-conference performers in 2011. In seven seasons under the tutelage of Pearce, 15 Cougars have earned USA South All-Conference First Team honors — the only six women's soccer players to achieve that honor in the history of the Averett program. Pearce has also produced two USA South Conference Player of the Year selections in her last four seasons.
Pearce's student-athletes also succeed in the classroom. She has produced multiple USA South Academic All-Conference performers, four Capital One Academic All-District selections and one Capital One Academic All-American (Cathrine Onarheim in 2014).
Pearce, a native of Brighton, England, also took her role as the Averett Department of Athletics Senior Woman Administrator in August 2010.
Pearce joined the Averett coaching staff from Roanoke College in the spring of 2008. At Roanoke, she helped guide the Maroons to an 18-4-1 record in the 2007 season as an assistant coach for the women’s soccer program. Before Roanoke, Pearce served as an assistant at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla.
Pearce has also coached with the Virginia State Olympic Development Program and was the academy director for the Highlander Soccer Club. In May 2013, she was the head coach of the USA Division III all-star team that toured and played in Brazil.
Before starting her coaching career, Pearce was a four-year starter at Northeastern State University. She was selected as an all-conference player three times, the team’s defensive player of the year three times, and was a team captain for her junior and senior seasons.
Prior to college, Pearce played for the National Women’s Soccer Academy for three years. The academy selects the top 60 players heading to college to play internationally for England.
Pearce graduated from Northeastern State University with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and a minor in sociology, and a master’s in education in college teaching with an emphasis in psychology. She currently lives in Danville.Â
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| Â CARLY PEARCE'S YEAR-BY-YEAR COACHING RESULTS |
| Season | Overall | USA South | Finish | Postseason |
| 2008 | 9-8-1 | 3-6-0 | 8th | USA South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals |
| 2009 | 7-10-1 | 3-5-1 | 6th | USA South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals |
| 2010 | 13-7-0 | 5-4-0 | 6th | USA South Conference Tournament Finals |
| 2011 | 14-3-1 | 7-2-0 | 3rd | USA South Conference Tournament Semifinals |
| 2012 | 17-4-0 | 11-0-0 | 1st | USA South Conference Regular Season Championship; USA South Conference
Tournament Championship;
NCAA First Round |
| 2013 | 12-6-1 | 9-2-1 | 3rd | USA South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals |
| 2014 | 5-13-0 | 5-7-0 | 8th | USA South Conference Tournament Quarterfinals |
| Totals | 77-51-4
(.598) | 44-26-2
(.625) | | |
| Â COACHING HIGHLIGHTS |
|  • 2012 USA South Coach of the Year |
|  • 2012 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Region Coach of the Year |
|  • 2012 USA South Conference Regular Season & Tournament Championship |
|  • 2 USA South Conference Players of the Year |
|  • 3 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Region Selections |
|  • 1 Capital One Academic All-America Selections |
|  • 4 Capital One Academic All-District Selections |
|  • 12 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State Selections |
|  • 43 USA South All-Conference Selections |
|  • 9 USA South Conference All-Tournament Selections |
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