Eureka College Men's Soccer

Ryan Woodside was named the fifth Eureka College men's soccer head coach on March 4, 2022. A Bloomington native, Woodside is coming back to central Illinois after previously serving as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Hope College in Holland, Michigan. There, he developed training programs to improve player performance, helped build a unique team culture, contributed to strategizing and training and assisted with running summer soccer camps and ID camps. In 2021, Hope went 11-4-3 on the season and had four players receive All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors. Woodside was named interim head coach at Hope after head coach Dave Brandt departed for Division I Bucknell. Woodside's experience in coaching soccer was preceded by a notable playing career. A 2015 Normal Community High School graduate, Woodside was a three-year varsity player and a First Team All-Big Twelve selection, helping the Ironmen take state runner-up in Class 3A as a senior. He also played club soccer for the Central Illinois Rowdies. After high school, Woodside went on to play at Hope, where he was a four-year starter as a midfielder. He appeared in 71 games and made 66 starts for the Flying Dutchmen and, when he was a senior, Woodside helped lead his team to a 14-3-1 season. After graduating from Hope with a bachelor's degree in biology and English in 2019, Woodside played a season of low-level professional soccer in Sweden. His team, Stöde IF, won the Swedish Division III Mellersta Norrland title and earned promotion. He has also played high-level amateur soccer for the Muskegon Risers in the Major Arena Soccer League II, and in 2021, he had the unique experience of helping launch a semi-professional club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, called the West Michigan Bearings. Woodside played for and ran the club in its first season in the Midwest Premier League in 2021.