Coaches

Dale Roden

L. Dale Roden

Head Women’s Soccer Coach
Tarkio University ’91
daroden@dwu.edu
605-995-2116

The past two seasons have been the best in the history of the Dakota Wesleyan University women’s soccer program, and in his fifth season with the university, head coach Lucien Dale Roden is hoping to keep that streak alive.

In 2010, Roden and the Tigers followed up the school’s first-ever regular-season and tournament titles and trip to the NAIA National Tournament with a 16-3 record and a second straight trip to the Great Plains Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament title game.  Two of the Tigers’ losses were to Hastings College, which won the league title and finished runner-up at the NAIA National Tournament, and one was a double overtime loss to Dordt College.

Senior goalkeeper Danielle Richardson earned her second straight GPAC Co-Defensive Player-of-the-Year award in 2010 after recording a school-record 12 shutouts and giving up just 11 goals in 19 games.  She, along with Ellie Peterson, Kasha Roberts and Sarah Weidler, all earned All-GPAC First-Team honors.  Kayla Pahl and Yutzil Rodriguez – a first-year player Roden recruited from the University of South Dakota, an NCAA Division I school – earned second-team honors, and Skye Pahl and Linsey Peterson earned honorable mention accolades.

Richardson and Peterson also earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors, and the entire team was recognized for its work in the classroom by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.  The Tigers were one of 444 women’s soccer teams to earn the honor, which requires a team to have a combined GPA of 3.0 or higher.  Peterson also earned CoSIDA Academic All-District Third-Team honors.

The Tigers set three team records in 2010.  Dakota Wesleyan set the school record for shots on goal (23) and opponent fouls (19) in a game, and shutouts (12) in a season.  Peterson also broke or tied five individual records, including points (37) and assists (13) in a season.  Rodriguez also tied two records, and Richardson broke her own record for shutouts in a season.

Overall, Roden is 43-29-6 after four seasons at DWU.  He has coached 21 All-GPAC players, nine NAIA All-America Scholar-Athletes, one NAIA All-American and three NSCAA Team Academic Award winners.

Roden, the second women’s soccer coach in school history, came to DWU from Adams State College, an NCAA Division II institution in Alamosa, Colo., where he was the first head coach at the school.  He was the head coach of the Grizzlies for five seasons, leading the team to two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament berths.  He compiled a 32-58-6 overall record in the first five seasons of women’s soccer at the school.  Roden’s squads excelled in the classroom, earning the Team Academic Award every year from the National Soccer Coaches Association with 30 players earning Academic All-RMAC honors.  He also coached three CoSIDA Academic All-District players and had 10 players earn NSCAA Scholar All-West recognition.

Roden has been a head coach for 15 seasons, compiling a 139-134-14 overall record.  His 139 career wins make him one of the top 20 winningest women’s soccer coaches in NAIA history.  Before starting the program at Adams State, he started the women’s soccer program at Huron University.  He spent three seasons at Huron and led his team to a No. 16 national ranking in the NAIA poll.

He was also the head women’s soccer coach for four seasons at Westmar before arriving at Huron University.  His Westmar team made a national tournament appearance in 1995.

Roden earned his bachelor’s degree from Tarkio College in Tarkio, Mo.  He earned a master’s degree in HPERD in 2000 from the University of South Dakota.  He also holds NSCAA National (1995) and Advanced National (1997) coaching diplomas.

Roden lives in Mitchell.  He has two daughters, Bailey and Grace, and a son, Parker.

Stefan Skillman

Stefan Skillman

Graduate Assistant Soccer Coach
Grace Bible College ’11
stskillm@dwu.edu

Stefan Skillman enters his first season as a graduate assistant coach for the Dakota Wesleyan soccer program in 2011. Skillman comes to DWU after graduating from Grace Bible College in Grand Rapids, Mich., with a bachelor of science in youth ministry in 2011.

Skillman was a goalie for the Grace College soccer team for two seasons. He has held various assistant and head coaching positions for recreation league, junior high, junior varsity and varsity teams. In 2009, he was the head assistant coach for the Grace men’s team as well as the Ottawa Hills High School varsity girls’ team. In 2010, Skillman helped Grace to the ACCA National Soccer Tournament, where the team finished third, as well as a No. 10 postseason national ranking. He also helped the Rangers Soccer Club girls’ U16 team to a second-place finish in their division and was the head coach for P.A.S.S. Impact, a U19 boys’ team.

Skillman has his USSF E License from the U.S. Soccer Federation and has received his Regional Diploma and Advanced Regional Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Skillman was adopted from Bulgaria at the age of 6 and grew up in western New York. He will work with the goalies at Dakota Wesleyan. He lives in Mitchell with his wife, Ashley, and is pursuing a master’s degree in educational policy and administration.