Coaches

Ed Joyce

Head Coach

edj@gsu.edu

(404) 413-4075

The latest on everything
College Soccer

Illustration of a rocket coming out of a mobile phone

Get our 5-minute, daily newsletter on what matters in college soccer.

Ed Joyce, a former Georgia State men's soccer assistant coach, became the head coach for the women's soccer program in March 2016.

Joyce's leadership has produced five straight seasons of eight or more wins and five consecutive semifinals appearances at the conference tournament. 2022 saw Joyce lead the Panthers to nine wins and a return trip to the Sun Belt Conference Semifinals. Senior defender Eva Diez Lois ended the season with All-Sun Belt Second-Team honors, and junior goalkeeper Jaddah Foos earned All-Tournament Team honors after recording a tounrament-best 16 total saves. 

The 2021 campaign was highlighted by freshmen Bree Barley and Brooklynn Fugel, along with super senior Lexie Knox being named to the All-Sun Belt First Team.  The three honorees are the most First Team honorees for GSU since the 1999 season.   They were also named to the 2021 United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region teams.  Brooklyn earned second team honors while and Bree and Lexie were named to the third team. This was the first time in program history that Georgia State put three student-athletes on an all-region team.  

Joyce navigated the program through the COVID-19 pandemic to a historical season in 2020. The Panthers finished 10-3-2 for the third best win percentage in program history. It was GSU's winningest season since 1998 as the team secured the No. 2 seed in the East at the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Joyce and the Panthers defeated Troy to advance to a third straight semifinals and freshman Maddie Johnston was named the 2020 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. Five Panthers earned all-conference honors, the most since 1997. 

In 2019 – Joyce’s fourth year as head coach of the GSU women’s soccer program – the Panthers finished with a 9-9-2 overall record and made it to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season. Georgia State finished 5-4-1 in conference play for a share of fourth place in the league standings marking just the third time since 2000 that GSU had finished fourth or better in the conference standings.

Joyce became the first Georgia State coach to lead the blue and white to 8 or more wins in back-to-back seasons (2018-19) since Domenic Martelli in 2007-08.

In his third season as head coach, Joyce led the Panthers to their first Sun Belt Conference Tournament appearance since 2015 in one of the greatest comeback seasons in GSU women's soccer history. Georgia State had a rough start to the 2018 campaign, finding itself 2-9-1 after suffering a seven-game losing streak and was without a goal in the month of September heading into its final match of the month against Troy. Joyce made tactical changes as well as moving players around in the new formation and what happened next was nothing short of miraculous. The Panthers went on to win their next four conference matches, including back-to-back shutouts against Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina -- the first time since 2003 GSU had won four consecutive conference matches. 

Georgia State went on to upset Coastal Carolina in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament, before falling to eventual champion Little Rock in the semifinals. Despite the loss, Joyce led his team to a 6-1-1 record in its final eight matches and gave the team strong momentum heading into the 2019 season. 

In his first two years at the helm, Joyce signed the team's two biggest recruiting classes since its inception in 1997. He coached the team to a 5-6-6 record, with a defense that recorded nine shutouts in 2017. His squad recorded five shutouts and lost by a margin of two or more goals just twice. The 2016 season was highlighted by a strong defense, with the team allowing just 19 goals.

Joyce coached two seasons as an assistant at Campbell prior to his return to Atlanta. Working with new head coach Dustin Fonder in the 2015 season, Joyce helped the Camels double their win total from 2014 with a 10-9 overall record and claimed the program's first winning season since 2012. The Camels advanced to their first appearance in a conference semifinal matchup since the 2009 season. 

Joyce helped mentor sophomore Bradley Farias, who earned Big South Attacking Player of the Year honors and became the eighth Campbell player to earn a conference's top award and the first since 2009. Farias' 15 goals ranked third in NCAA Division I.

Joyce joined the Camels in April 2014 after serving the previous four seasons at Georgia State, where he earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) South Atlantic Region assistant coach of the year honors in 2011.

While at Georgia State, Joyce was involved in all phases of the Panthers program that received the program’s first berth in the NCAA College Cup’s main draw in 2011.  The Panthers finished 13-8-1 to record the school’s most victories in 25 years while posting nine shutouts to tie a school record set in 1983.

He recruited and coached the first Major League Soccer draftee in Georgia State history, Michael Nwiloh, who was chosen in the fourth round by Chivas USA in the 2014 MLS Super Draft.

A native of Shefford, England, Joyce joined the Georgia State staff prior to the 2010 campaign and helped guide the team to its first .500 finish in five years.  In addition to his responsibilities at Georgia State, Joyce also coached the Inter-Atlanta FC Blues elite U-12 boys club team.

Joyce moved to GSU after a stint as the assistant coach for the women’s soccer team at Ohio University. His duties at Ohio included recruiting, opponent scouting, game breakdown and on-field instruction. He also ran Ohio’s spring and summer clinics. He completed his masters in Coaching Education from Ohio in 2010.

Joyce also served as assistant men’s soccer coach and recruiting coordinator at Presbyterian College where he assisted the Blue Hose transition into Division I competition in 2007.

Prior to Presbyterian, Joyce was the head boys soccer coach at Greenville (S.C.) High School. He guided Greenville to a South Carolina state championship in 2006 when the Red Raiders finished the season with a perfect 27-0 record and were ranked No. 1 in the nation by the NSCAA in its spring rankings. Greenville set state records for shutouts, fewest goals allowed and goals given up per game. He was named both the region and state coach of the year in 2007.

Joyce was an assistant coach in the U.S. Olympic Development Program (ODP) in South Carolina for the boys’ 1995 team and a coach at elite soccer camps for both Wake Forest and South Carolina. He also served as the assistant camp director at Presbyterian College and was responsible for coordinating many of Ohio’s camps. He worked on the Region II ODP staff working with the girls’ 1997 age group in South Carolina in the summer of 2010.

Joyce competed collegiately at Erskine College in Due West, S.C. He played four years with the Flying Fleet, serving as a team captain for two seasons. He was the team’s leader, and second in the Carolinas Virginia Conference in assists in 2005. He graduated with a degree in athletic training in 2007.

Joyce holds the NSCAA National, Advanced National and Premier diploma coaching certificates, as well as a UEFA B license.  Joyce and his wife, Ashleigh, have two kids, Jack and Isla.

#1 College Soccer Newsletter

Join thousands of current readers and get our 5-minute, daily newsletter on what matters in college soccer.

Illustration of a rocket coming out of a mobile phone