Gustavus Adolphus College Women's Soccer

Lauren Johnson was hired as head coach of the Gustavus Adolphus College women's soccer program, Athletics Director Tom Brown announced May 6, 2025. Johnson, a 2021 Gustavus graduate and four-year starter for the Gusties, returns to the program after serving as an assistant coach at UW-La Crosse last year and as an assistant at Wartburg for two seasons.   As an assistant coach at UW-La Crosse, Johnson helped lead the Eagles to both the WIAC regular season and playoff championships with a 16-4-2 overall record and an appearance at the NCAA Championships. Johnson coached seven All-Conference honorees, four who earned All-Region, and two All-America selections, who were also CSC Academic All-Americans. Johnson also coached the 2024 WIAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.   Prior to UW-La Crosse, Johnson was an assistant coach at Wartburg for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. During those two seasons, Johnson and the Knights achieved a 22-14-3 overall record and hosted a regional round of the 2022 NCAA tournament. She coached the program's first All-America First Team honoree in 2022 as well as four All-Region and nine All-Conference selections. Johnson has been a summer camp coach at Gustavus since 2018 and has high school and youth coaching experience at both East Ridge and Mahtomedi.   As a player at Gustavus, Johnson started in all 63 career games with six goals and six assists as a midfielder before the 2020 pandemic cut her collegiate career short. She earned MIAC All-Conference honorable mention in 2018 and 2019. Johnson was also a starter for the Fire 98 WPSL semi-professional team in 2019.   Johnson becomes the sixth head coach in the 42-year history of Gustavus women's soccer. Gustavus has an all-time record of 363-308-70 with five MIAC regular season championships, one playoff title, and seven NCAA tournament appearances.  

COACHING RESUME Gustavus Adolphus College - 2023-Present Associate Head Women's Soccer Coach Buena Vista University - 2018-23 Head Women's Soccer Coach Gustavus Adolphus College - 2015-18 Assistant Women's Soccer Coach Bethany Lutheran College - 2014 Assistant Men's and Women's Soccer Coach Bethany Lutheran College - 2013 Assistant Women's Soccer Coach Mankato East High School - 2012 Assistant Girl's Soccer Coach  Albert Lea High School 2010-11 Assistant Girl's Soccer Coach Grinnell College - 2009 Assistant Women's Soccer Coach EDUCATION MSU-Mankato - 2014 M.S. Sport Management Winona State University - 2009 B.S. Recreation and Tourism HOMETOWN Albert Lea, Minn. Benton Frayne returned to the Gustavus women's soccer coaching staff in the 2023 season as the program's associate head coach. Frayne returns to Saint Peter after serving as the head coach of the Buena Vista women's soccer team for four years. He previously served as the assistant to head coach Laura Burnett-Kurie for the Gusties from 2015-18. Frayne is in his sixth season with the Gusties in the 2024-25 academic year. In the 2023 season, Frayne helped the Gustavus women's soccer team to an overall record of 9-7-1 and MIAC record of 5-5-1 to tie for sixth place in the conference. The Gusties missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker. Sophomore Cambelle Waldspurger (Mahtomedi) was selected as the team's sole representative on the MIAC All-Conference team, while Annika Lewis (Sr., Hudson, Wis.) and Callie Patraw (Jr., Ramsey) were named Honorable Mention All-MIAC. As a head coach at Buena Vista, Frayne proved to turn his four years into some of the Beavers' most successful in program history. In his first year, Frayne doubled the team's win total from the previous season in his first year. His final season in Storm Lake, Iowa in 2022 proved to be the program's best in over a decade. The Beavers nearly doubled their goal production and cut their season goals against by 24, improving in every statistical category from the year prior. As the assistant coach at Gustavus from 2015-18, Frayne helped direct the Gusties to three consecutive conference playoff appearances, as well as an historical run in 2015. The 2015 Gusties claimed the greatest turnaround in program history as they finished 13-7-1 overall and 8-3 in the MIAC. The team went on to defeat St. Thomas in the MIAC Playoff Championship with a 1-0 victory, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. The Gusties compiled an overall record of 38-29-11 in Frayne’s four seasons. Prior to Gustavus, he served as an assistant coach at Bethany Lutheran College from 2013-14, and started his collegiate coaching career at Grinnell College in 2009. Frayne also coached high school girl's soccer at Albert Lea and Mankato East early in his coaching career, and served as the Director of Coaching for Mankato United. Frayne was awarded the Outstanding Ambassadors of Teams Honoring Sportsmanship (OATHS) award in 2013 from the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association (MYSA), which honors good sportsmanship in youth soccer throughout the state of Minnesota. A native of Albert Lea, Minn., Frayne completed his Bachelor of Science in recreation and tourism at Winona State University in the spring of 2009 and earned a Master’s Degree in Sport Management from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Frayne and his wife Jacqui have a son, William.  

Raul Garcia III is in his first year as an assistant for the Gustavus women's soccer team in the 2024-25 academic year. Garcia III primarily coaches the Gustie goalkeepers.  COACHING RESUME Gustavus Adolphus College - 2024-Present Assistant Women's Soccer Coach - Goalkeepers Bethany Lutheran College - 2022-24 Assistant Soccer Coach - Goalkeepers MSU-Mankato - 2019-22 Assistant Women's Soccer Coach - Goalkeepers Hamline University - 2016-19 Assistant Women's Soccer Coach EDUCATION Luther Seminary - 2022 M.Div. Master of Divinity Luther Seminary - 2013 M.A. Children, Youth, and Family MInistry Texas Lutheran University - 1996 B.A. Kinesiology and Exercise Science HOMETOWN San Antonio, Texas Garcia III is no stranger to the collegiate soccer world, having previously served as the assistant and goalkeepers coach at Bethany Lutheran College for the previous two seasons. While at Bethany Lutheran, Garcia III helped coach the women's team to two of its best seasons, including seven All-Conference selections and three All-Region awards in 2023.  Prior to his time at Bethany Lutheran, Garcia III served as an assistant and goalkeepers coach at MSU-Mankato. In 2019, Garcia III helped coach the Mavericks to a 19-win season, tied for the second most in program history. The 2019 team finished 19-4-1 with a 12-3-0 conference record, good for second in the league. The Mavericks went on to win their fourth consecutive NSIC Tournament Championship, and advanced to the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history.  Garcia III also spent time scouting and recruiting for the Mavericks in 2021 while completing his pastoral internship. The 2021 MSU team advanced to the NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" with an overall record of 18-3-2. While at MSU-Mankato, Garcia III had a hand in coaching numerous All-Conference players and four All-Americans.  Garcia III spent time at fellow MIAC institution Hamline before joining the Mavericks, helping the Pipers to their first ever postseason tournament appearance in 2016. Garcia III has spent over three decades coaching all levels of soccer, winning state, district, regional, and USA Cup championships at the youth, high school and collegiate levels.  A native Texan, Raul was an active athlete at John F. Kennedy High School in San Antonio, Texas, participating in football, basketball, baseball, cross country, and track & field. He spent much of his summer playing baseball and soccer before attending Texas Lutheran University where he received his degree in kinesiology and exercise science.  Garcia III headed north in 1996, where he attended Luther Seminary in St. Paul, earning his Master's degree in children, youth, and family in 2013. He finished his Master's of Divinity in 2022, and currently serves as a pastor in the Twin Cities.  Raul and his wife Rhea, a kindergarten teacher, have two daughters, Grace and Trinity. They enjoy cooking, gardening, playing music, and spending time with their dog, Marty.