The face of the ULM women's soccer team since the 2001 campaign, Stacy Lamb has spent the last eight years establishing herself as one of the top coaches in the region after taking the reins of one of the country's most promising growing programs. Now 10 years since the inception of the program, Lamb continues to shape the image of soccer for ULM, the city of Monroe, and the north Louisiana region.

More than just the coach of the Warhawks, Lamb has become the most visible and outspoken ally of the sport in Northeast Louisiana. Working with the Olympic Development Pool, conducting youth camps, and helping with the continued development of the Northeast Louisiana Soccer Association (NELSA), she has become one of the region and states most ardent sponsors of youth soccer. Her annual soccer camp, conducted on the campus of ULM by Warhawk staff and current and former student-athletes continues to be one of the most popular summer activities for Monroe area youth.

Nearly a decade has passed since Lamb came to Monroe, La., to lead the young soccer squad at ULM. Under her leadership, the quality of play on the pitch has increased drastically as the Warhawks have come from a fledgling program in the Southland Conference to one of the more competitive squads in the Sun Belt Conference. This increase in on-field production has helped Lamb secure the funding for a soccer-only facility on campus, moving the program away from playing on the compressed field at Brown Stadium to the ULM Soccer Complex. Included in this move has been the remodeling of a space for coaching offices by the field, a student-athlete locker room with space for 30, and a player lounge and film room that the Warhawks will move into for the start of preseason camp in 2009.

Emphasizing balance amongst her student-athletes, Lamb has produced some of the universities top graduates over the past eight seasons including 2009 top graduate Amanda Strope who finished her five-year ULM career with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Awards and high marks in the classroom have become a hallmark of a Lamb soccer squad, but represent only the beginning of her soccer squad's contributions to the ULM athletic department. During her tenure with the Warhawks, a ULM student-athlete has been named all-Louisiana 14 times, has been named to their respective all-conference team on another 26 occasions, garnered the 2001 Louisiana Player of the Year, and 69 have been recognized by their respective conference for academic successes.

Lamb became ULM's second women's soccer head coach on January 25, 2001, after serving as an assistant coach with the program for one season under Rena Richardson during the 2000 campaign. What has followed since her promotion are 64 victories, five conference tournament appearances, and countless individual and team recognitions.

As Richardson's top assistant in 2000, Lamb helped lay the foundation for ULM's later successes by recruiting one of the top classes in the Southland Conference. Since that time, Lamb has continued to build the program into a destination school for some of the nation's top prep student-athletes. Her 2009 roster alone features elite athletes from some of the nation's top prep and club programs including three players who have combined to win four club national championships.

Recognized by her peers as one of the top young coaches in the profession, Lamb was named Coach of the Year in 2001 - her first season as a Division I head coach - by both the Southland Conference and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

After being named head coach of the Warhawks, it didn't take long for Lamb to elevate the program. In her rookie season as a head coach, Lamb guided ULM to a 9-10-2 overall record and the program's first ever postseason tournament appearance. ULM defeated all but one of its Southland Conference opponents and made a statement to the collegiate soccer world by posting a 2-2 double-overtime tie against Southeastern Conference power and in-state rival LSU. In the first year with Lamb as the head coach, the ULM soccer program nearly doubled its all-time win production.

In 2002, her second season as the Warhawks head coach, Lamb continued to move the program in the right direction and posted a 6-3-3 conference record. ULM advanced to the conference tournament for the second consecutive season.

ULM's next jump came during the 2003 season. After once again advancing to the Southland Conference Tournament, Lamb led the school to a historic victory and defeated Northwestern State, 4-1, for the program's first ever postseason win. That year, ULM advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time before falling, 1-0, to the eventual league champions.

ULM continued to improve under Lamb's guidance in the following season and posted a school-record 14-6-2 mark. The Warhawks advanced to the conference tournament championship game and pushed eventual victor Texas State to the wire before falling by a 1-0 score in the overtime period.

With all her successes on the pitch in the Southland Conference, it only made sense when the Warhawks entered the Sun Belt Conference in 2006 that Lamb was once again on the sidelines to lead the program.

After a difficult first season in the elevated competition, the Warhawks saw a three-win improvement in their overall and Sun Belt Conference record in the 2007 season. Despite a roster loaded with underclassmen, Lamb was able to guide the Warhawks past a slow start and the team posted a 0.88 goals against average over the final 10 matches. ULM out scored its opponents 12-9 during the stretch, but five one-goal losses, including at defending conference champion Denver (1-0) and at home against 2007 conference champion Western Kentucky (2-1) kept the Warhawks half a game out of the final spot in the conference tournament. The Warhawks went on the road and posted back-to-back shutouts in Florida against Florida Atlantic and Florida International during the 10-match stretch run. From the first year in the Sun Belt to the second, the Lamb led Warhawks shaved more than a goal per game off their opponents scoring average.

The 2008 campaign provided another challenge for the Warhawks and Lamb. As the team reported to campus, Hurricane Gustav ravaged the southern portion of the state and dumped feet of rain on the team's playing surfaces during the preseason. Despite going nearly a month before playing or practicing on their field for the first time, Lamb led her Warhawks to the first 3-0 start in program history. Later in the season, the Warhawks led nationally-ranked Denver late into the second half and defeated perennial Sun Belt Conference power North Texas to provide the highlights of an injury-depleated and weather shortened campaign.

Prior to coming to ULM, Lamb coached three seasons at Midwestern State University where she helped the team to a pair of conference titles and a 49-11-1 overall record. Lamb has also been on the sidelines as the head coach of several club teams.

As a player, Lamb was a three-time All-American at Lees-McRae College, a member institution of Conference Carolinas (formerly the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference). Her career points and assists totals are still ranked at the top at Lees-McRae. In the fall of 2006, Lamb was named to the CVAC All-Time Women's Soccer Team.

Most recently, Lamb became the first woman inducted into her prep alma mater, Battle Ground Academy's Hall of Fame in recognition of her accomplishments as an athlete, coach and ambassador of the game. With her tireless work ethic and drive to succeed, the awards should continue to come for the Warhawk soccer coach as she continues to guide the program to new heights in the 2009 campaign.

A native of Franklin, Tenn., Lamb earned a bachelor's of arts degree in communication and a bachelor's of sciences degree in English literature from Lees-McRae in 1997. She went on to earn a master's degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science from Midwestern State University in 1999 and a master's degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing from ULM in 2002. She is the middle daughter of three of Jim and Margaret Lamb.