Nat Gonzalez, who spent three seasons as an associate head coach at Southern California and was the head men[apos]s soccer coach at UC Riverside prior to his stint at USC, is in his third season as an associate head coach at San Diego State. Gonzalez also served as an assistant for the U.S. under-20 Women[apos]s National Team in their preparation for the 2008 World Championships.
Last season, Gonzalez guided the Aztec keepers to a goals-against average of 1.55 and helped Christi Yount step in and fill the shoes of Aubree Southwick when she suffered a season-ending injury with eight games to go. In those final eight games, Yount recorded two shutouts and allowed one or fewer goals four times. Additionally, Yount had a scoreless streak of 296:47, with the Aztecs finishing 2-1-1 during that span.
In his first year at SDSU, Gonzalez helped develop Southwick, who became the first player in Mountain West Conference history to win two individual awards when she was tabbed the defensive player of the year and freshman of the year. Southwick was also the fourth Aztec, and first since 2000, to be named to the Soccer Buzz freshman All-America team.
As an associate head coach for the Women of Troy, Gonzalez coached the goalkeepers and dealt with all aspects of recruiting. The 2006 USC squad allowed just 21 goals, a mark which was the fewest in the Pac-10 and ranked 15th in the nation. In 2005, the Women of Troy[apos]s recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the nation according to Soccer Buzz.
Gonzalez helped USC improve from 9-9-1 in his first year in 2004, to a 24-11-7 combined record over the next two seasons, including back-to-back trips to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Prior to joining the Women of Troy, Gonzalez started the men[apos]s soccer program at UC Riverside, where he went 12-36-8 over three seasons.
Gonzalez spent five years as a men[apos]s assistant and goalkeeping coach at Washington, helping the Huskies to consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships in 1998 and 1999, and a 61-15-5 record during his tenure.
Gonzalez has also been an assistant men[apos]s coach at Cal Poly Pomona (1995-96) and was the interim women[apos]s soccer head coach at UCLA in the spring of 1995, after serving as the goalkeeper coach for the Bruins from 1994-95.
Gonzalez was a four-year goalkeeper at UCLA from 1988-91, and was a member of the 1990 Bruins[apos] national championship squad. He graduated from UCLA in 1995 with a bachelor[apos]s degree in psychology and possesses a United States Soccer Federation [quote]B[quote] license.
Gonzalez played professionally for six seasons, finishing his career in 1997 with the Seattle SeaDogs of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL).
Gonzalez and wife, Kari, have two daughters, Mandi (6) and Mari (3).