The eighth coach in the history of Point Loma men's soccer program, Head Coach Phil Wolf has led the Sea Lions for 12 seasons, including in 2023 when he coached the team to its first-ever conference championship and first NCAA postseason win in program history.

Throughout his 12 years as the leader of the Sea Lions, Coach Wolf has instilled the words of Respect, Honor, Family, Passion and Excellence as the backbones of his program.

These lessons are being seen on the field as the Sea Lions have seen continual improvement throughout his tenure. After going just 2-16 in his first season (2012), Coach Wolf turned it around and led the Sea Lions to a 14-3-2 record in 2017 and the program's first home NCAA playoff match in school history. Wolf has also coached some individuals to the highest honors as both Wiktor Lasota (2017) and David Achaerandio (2019) have taken home All-American honors under his tutelage.

The march to bring the team back to prominence began in 2013 when coach Wolf brought in a class of 14 newcomers. The Sea Lions responded by going 7-8-3 and placing seventh in the Pacific West Conference standings at 5-4-3. The improvement continued in 2014, as the Sea Lions climbed to sixth in the PacWest standings with a 6-5-1 record, their first-ever winning record in PacWest play. The Sea Lions put together a seven-match undefeated streak, which included five straight victories, to match the second-longest winning streak in school history.

Then in 2015, PLNU experienced its first winning season in nearly a decade (2007) going 9-5-3, and climbing to fourth in the PacWest standings with an 8-3-2 record. It won five straight PacWest contests including defeating Azusa Pacific for the first time since 2004. Wolf also guided Point Loma to a 3-0 victory over two-time national champions, Cal State Dominguez Hills, in the season opener for the biggest win under his leadership.

In 2016, Point Loma reached third place in the PacWest standings with an 8-4-1 mark in conference play. The Sea Lions went undefeated in their final seven matches of the season to finish 9-5-4 overall. Wolf also saw Tyler Allen become the first Sea Lion to ever earn All-PacWest honors in all four seasons of eligibility, as well as Nico Tagaloa take home NSCAA National Player of the Week honors after his four-goal performance on Senior Day against Fresno Pacific.

The upward trend reached new heights during the 2017 season when coach Wolf helped lead the Sea Lions to a 16-match unbeaten streak and the No. 2 seed in the NCAA West Regional. PLNU went 14-3-2 on the season and was undefeated in PacWest play at 11-0-2 (second place). During the season, Point Loma put its first-ever student-athlete on an NCAA All-American team as Wiktor Lasota was named an honorable mention by D2CAA. Lasota also earned PacWest Goalkeeper of the Year honors. In addition, a program-record eight student-athletes earned All-PacWest honors.

In 2018, the Sea Lions ranked in the top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches poll. PLNU posted a 10-6-2 record and placed fourth in the PacWest standings (6-3-2). Goalkeeper Wiktor Lasota capped off his outstanding and decorated career by earning the prestigious Google Cloud Academic All-America honor for his work on the field and in the classroom. Tim Siegfried also put together the best offensive season since the Sea Lions reached the NCAA. He scored 16 goals and posted 36 points during his sophomore season.

In 2019, Wolf led the Sea Lions to an 11-6-1 record and a third-place finish in the PacWest. David Achaerandio earned PacWest Newcomer of the Year honors and was named a third team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. During the season, Achaerandio scored 15 goals and had six assists.

In 2021, Point Loma went 11-4-1 overall (8-2 PacWest) to finish second in the conference standings. The Sea Lions entered the final day of the regular season with the PacWest title still up for grabs, before finishing second by a single point.

Then in 2022, PLNU nearly recorded another double-digit win season (9-6-3 overall), finishing in third place in the PacWest.

Most recently in 2023, Wolf's Sea Lions made history by winning the PacWest championship and defeating Simon Fraser in the NCAA Super Region 4 First Round.

Wolf is now 106-74-23 in his 12 seasons with the Sea Lions and has a career record of 226-103-41.

Prior to being named the head coach at PLNU coach Wolf had most recently been the lead assistant at Southern Methodist University (2009-11). Wolf helped SMU go 35-17-5 overall mark with one regular-season Conference USA championship and two conference tournament titles during his tenure.

During the 2010 season, SMU had one of its most successful years in program history. The team posted a 16-2-2 record, won both the regular season and conference postseason crowns and made an NCAA Elite Eight appearance. The Mustangs enjoyed another terrific season in 2011, notching a 13-7-1 overall record and rolling to a 3-0 mark in the Conference USA Tournament for their second-consecutive championship. SMU qualified for the NCAA Tournament, losing a second-round match to tenth-ranked Akron, 3-2.

Before his stint at SMU, Wolf was the head coach for eight stellar seasons at Azusa Pacific University, where he led the Cougars to the NAIA National Championship in 2007. APU went 120-29-18 under Wolf's guidance, winning four Golden State Athletic Conference titles and appearing in three-straight NAIA national title matches (2006-08).

Wolf was named as the GSAC Coach of the Year three times (2001, 2007, 2008) and was selected as the NSCAA NAIA National Coach of the Year in both 2005 and 2007 and the Brine-NAIA Coach of the Year in 2007.

Before his run at Azusa Pacific, Wolf was an assistant at Wheaton College (IL), where he was part of the coaching staff that won the 1997 NCAA Division III Championship and set an NCAA record for all divisions with a 66-match unbeaten streak.

As a player, Wolf was a three-time All-American at Wheaton and was a member of the team's 1990 Division III Final Four team. Wolf graduated with the third-most points in school history (135), and his teams posted a record of 77-10-6 during his time at Wheaton. He then played five years of professional soccer, splitting time between the NPSL and the USL.

Wolf graduated from Wheaton in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications. In 2001, he earned a Masters of Arts in Spiritual Formation. Wolf holds a USSFA coaching license.

Phil and his wife, Melanie, have four children: Barrett, Maggie, Maryn, and Ivan. Phil's brother, Dave, has been the head men's soccer coach at Westmont College for over 25 years.

Head Coaching Record

Team

Year

Overall

Conference

Conference Finish

Postseason/Honors/Notes

Azusa Pacific

2001

15-1-3

4-3-3

Azusa Pacific

2002

7-6-5

5-5-0

Azusa Pacific

2003

11-7-0

9-1-0

1

Azusa Pacific

2004

17-1-3

7-3-0

1

GSAC Champions, NAIA Quarterfinals

Azusa Pacific

2005

20-5-0

7-2-1

1

NAIA Title Game

Azusa Pacific

2006

17-4-3

9-0-1

1

NAIA Title Game

Azusa Pacific

2007

20-1-1

8-1-1

1

GSAC Champions, NAIA National Champions

Azusa Pacific

2008

13-4-3

8-2-0

1

GSAC Champions

Point Loma

2012

2-16

1-13

14

Point Loma

2013

7-8-3

5-4-3

7

Point Loma

2014

6-10-2

6-5-1

6

Point Loma

2015

9-5-3

8-3-2

4

Point Loma

2016

9-5-4

8-4-1

4

Point Loma

2017

14-3-2

11-0-2

2

NCAA Super Region 4

Point Loma

2018

10-6-2

6-3-2

4

Point Loma

2019

11-6-1

7-3-1

3

Point Loma

2020

5-0

4-0

1

SoCal Pod Champion

Point Loma

2021

11-4-2 

8-2

2

Point Loma

2022

9-6-3

6-3-1

3

Point Loma

2023

13-5-1

8-1-1

1

PacWest Champions, NCAA Super Region 4

Totals

20 Seasons

226-103-41