Shannon Locke enters her seventh season at Arkansas State and her fifth as the Associate Head Coach.
Helping the program to three-straight seasons with 10 or more wins and back-to-back Sun Belt Conference regular season championships, Locke has played a major part in the rise of the A-State women's soccer program.
The Red Wolves defense has posted 39 shutouts since Locke began her tenure on the coaching staff, including 25 clean sheets in the last three seasons. In fact, A-State has posted a 0.85 goals-against average allowing 49 goals spanning 55 matches since the start of the 2019 season.
In her time at A-State, the Red Wolves have had six First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selections, nine Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference picks and eight Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament team honorees.
Locke helped recruit and manage a squad that saw freshmen – first-year and returning freshmen – log 63 percent of the minutes in 2021. Those freshmen accounted for 17 of 24 goals on the season. True freshmen accounted for 30 points, scoring 14 goals, seven game-winners, and assisted on nine others. Defensively, A-State posted a 1.01 goals-against average overall, while limiting conference foes to 13.9 shots per game and just 60 shots on goal in the 10 league matches.
Despite COVID-19 pandemic challenges during the 2020-21 campaign, Locke and the coaching staff led the team to the most successful season in program history. The Red Wolves set single-season records for wins (11), shutouts (11) and goals-against average (0.58) in an 11-5-1 season. A-State was unbeaten in the eight-game league slate, posting a 7-0-1 record and allowed just one goal in those eight fixtures.
The Red Wolves swept the Sun Belt Conference postseason honors with head coach Brian Dooley named Coach of the Year, forward Sarah Sodoma named Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year and goalkeeper Megan McClure named Defensive Player of the Year. Freshman Hailey Cloud joined Sodoma and McClure as All-Sun Belt Conference selections while Sodoma and Cloud were recognized on the United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region team.
A-State posted a 10-6-4 mark and 5-2-3 record in league play in the 2019 campaign. The Red Wolves advanced to their first SBC Tournament final with Sodoma providing nine goals and six assists for a 24-point season, fourth-highest in program history, to earn First Team All-Sun Belt recognition.
Continued improvement was shown in the 2018 season with A-State finishing at 8-7-3 overall and an appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament fo the third-straight season. In 2017, A-State finished 9-6-2 with the nine victories accounting for the third-highest win total in program history at the time. Sodoma was named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and Riley Ebenroth and Kelsey Ponder were named All-Sun Belt Conference selections. In her first season, Locke helped lead A-State to their first Sun Belt Tournament appearance since 2013. She was instrumental in the development of goalkeeper Kelsey Ponder, a Second Team All-Conference pick and first all-conference selection for A-State since 2013.
Locke came to A-State from Kansas University where she served as the Director of Operations for the Jayhawks' women's soccer program. During her season in Lawrence, the Jayhawks collected 10 victories and advanced to the finals of the Big 12 Championship Tournament.
In addition to her duties on the field, Locke also organized scouting reports, travel itineraries, meals, videos and highlights, recorded game stats, team stats, director of team camps and served as the main liaison with the alumni.
Prior to her time at Kansas, she had a two-year stint as the strength and conditioning coach for the Northeastern State women's soccer program. During that time, she also earned her master's degree in Human and Health Performance.
Locke was a four-year letterwinner for the Tulsa Hurricane from 2006-10. During her four years in Tulsa she tallied five goals, six assists and had a role in 12 shutouts. She was also the captain of the squad in both her junior and senior years.
She graduated from Tulsa in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in exercise sports science.
A native of Vancouver, Canada, Locke also enjoyed a highly successful club and Olympic Development career. In 2006, she started 21 of 24 games for the women's premier team in Canada, where she recorded 12 goals and 10 assists and helped her squad to regional and league titles.
She saw time with the Canadian Youth National Team in three-consecutive years. She also competed oversees in Spain, Denmark and Sweden where she helped her various teams win gold titles in all three countries.
