McAlpine comes to USC after serving the past two seasons (2012-13) as head coach at Washington State, where he guided the Cougars to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances and a program-best second-place finish in the Pac 12 in 2013.
"We conducted a national search with a great pool of candidates, and Keidane really stood out with his vision of what he wants to bring to the USC soccer program," Haden said of McAlpine. "He has already shown his ability to coach and succeed at the highest level, and his experience as a head coach in the Pac-12 is a big plus. We believe he is uniquely qualified to lead USC back to the successful level that we expect for our soccer program."
“Thank you to Pat Haden, Max Nikias and Steve Lopes for the opportunity to come to such a prestigious institution,” McAlpine said. “I’m excited to get to work and be a part of the Trojan family. I thank [WSU president] Elson Floyd, [WSU Director of Athletics] Bill Moos and [WSU Senior Associate AD/SW] Anne McCoy for all their wonderful support and guidance. It was great to work with the student-athletes at Washington State, and I thank them for their hard work and dedication. I’m looking forward to working with a new set of women with the goal of bringing the national championship back to USC.”
McAlpine becomes the fourth head coach in program history, replacing Ali Khosroshahin, who spent the past seven years (2007-13) at Troy. The Women of Troy won the 2007 NCAA championship and have made 12 NCAA tournament appearances, but have not reached the postseason since 2010.
This past season at Washington State, McAlpine's Cougars tied the program record for victories with a 14-3-4 mark. His team and players set or tied 27 school records. In his first season at WSU, McAlpine went 6-4-1 in Pac-12 play and finished up 12-6-2 overall in reaching the 2012 NCAA tournament. In his two years in Pullman, McAlpine saw one Cougar named an NSCAA All-American and Pac-12 Player of the Year while picking up his own selection as the 2013 Pac-12 Coach of the Year. In those two years, McAlpine coached six Cougars to All-Pac-12 honor rolls. Considered an offensive-minded coach, McAlpine showed his defensive savvy while at WSU as the Cougars finished 2013 ranked No. 7 in the nation with only 11 goals allowed.
Prior to Washington State, McAlpine spent six years (2006-11) as an assistant at Auburn, helping the Tigers to NCAA appearances each season along with three SEC West titles.
In all, McAlpine has spent seven seasons as a head coach (five at Birmingham-Southern, two at Washington State), having accumulated a 66-57-17 (.532) record at the helm of those two programs with three NCAA appearances.
McAlpine was a four-year starter at Birmingham-Southern and was team captain in 1996. During that season, the Panthers finished as runners up in the NAIA tournament after advancing to the semifinals the previous season. After graduation, McAlpine spent the 1999 season playing for the Tennessee Rhythm of the A League.
