The year was 2006, and the St. Edward's women's soccer program needed a transformation. Coming off a 6-11-2 season, the Hilltoppers welcomed new head coach Nick Cowell, who arrived determined to reshape the team's mentality and culture.
 
He recalls his first season on the hilltop – specifically the game against the University of Tampa – as one of his favorite memories. Not knowing what to expect at first after a three-year tenure at Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee, his new team defeated the defending national champion Spartans 2-1 in overtime.
 
"That was when we got a lot of buy-in from the players, like 'Hey, we can do well here,'" Cowell recalls.
 
The following 20 seasons have been a testament to Cowell's commitment to a culture of positive attitude, motivation, and unity, cementing his legacy as the winningest coach in St. Edward's history, with a 251-85-40 overall record at the hilltop. 
 
Coming from England, soccer – or football, as the British would call it – has always been a central part of Cowell's life. At 18 years old, he was offered the opportunity to play professionally, but chose to pursue an academically oriented route instead. However, soccer remained a part of his everyday life, as he continued to play semi-professionally and traveled to the United States every summer to coach soccer camps.
 
Shortly after graduating from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Spanish and French, a friend who coached in New York City offered Cowell the chance to play professionally. After playing for a year, he chose to stay in the U.S. and pursue a master's degree in Sports Psychology, allowing him to coach while studying.
 
"I started coaching a Division I men's program in Ohio and took my master's, and I've basically been here ever since," Cowell said. "I had the opportunity to coach a Division III women's team in Ohio for two years. My best friend got the men's coaching job at Trinity University in San Antonio and said that I should apply for the women's job, and I got it, so the two of us basically created the men's and women's soccer programs together back in 1991."
 
Similar to the environment he created at St. Edward's, Cowell's career at Trinity also resulted in a winning program, with the team posting a 117-30-8 overall record from 1991 to 1998.
 
What started simply as a job opportunity became more over the years. Back then, Cowell did not anticipate coaching becoming his career, but a passion for the sport and a coaching style that blended well with women's college soccer programs propelled his advancement in the field.
 
After Trinity, Cowell also coached at Baylor University before transitioning to the University of the South (also known as Sewanee). Although he had positive experiences at both colleges, a desire to be closer to family brought him to the hilltop 20 years ago.
 
Despite having an extremely successful career at St. Edward's, the program's record isn't the main aspect that drives his continued dedication to Hilltopper Athletics: it's the student-athletes that he has been able to coach over the seasons that embody the morals and academic values of the Holy Cross mission.
 
Those athletes are what made his recent 250th win on the hilltop possible. Under the new lights at Lewis-Chen Family Field on Sept. 11, the 2025 women's soccer squad shut out North Greenville University 7-0. Even though the milestone was celebrated in style, he speaks of it without much ceremony.
 
"The number itself isn't that important to me, it's just a result," Cowell said. "I've always been process-oriented; if you do the right things, then good things will happen at the end, so it's not something that I set out to do. Who decided that (250) was an important number? I just want to keep doing the right thing."
 
Cowell explains his philosophy by referring to "the dashes," the symbols that separate numbers between wins, losses, and ties. To anyone else, the numbers would be the most significant aspect, but he sees the gaps in between as phases of development and the moments that shape the team.
 
"The dashes are really where your program is defined," Cowell explains. "What did you do to those teams? How did you help them create that type of record?"
 
During his time here, Cowell has also witnessed many changes to the Athletic department – from facility improvements to the addition of lights on the field – with the most notable being the transition from the Heartland Conference to the Lone Star Conference in 2019. 
 
The long-time coach had an undefeated conference run in 2016 and led the team to eight regular-season championships while in the Heartland Conference, resulting in an induction to the conference's hall of fame prior to the university joining the LSC. When St. Edward's joined, the LSC had 19 members, making it the largest NCAA DII conference.
 
"(It's) Definitely a lot harder," Cowell said. "This is probably one of the top two or three conferences in the country for women's soccer, and there are a lot of big schools in the Lone Star Conference, which has made the competitiveness really hard, but that makes you better. We're the best academic school in a very competitive conference. We provide great value."
 
Years of changes to the program, games, and broken records have reflected the same thing: Cowell's continuous focus and devotion to player development on and off the pitch. To him, the real end goal is to foster a fun environment where players can create memories that they will cherish forever, while helping them become the best players and people that they can be.
 
"I love the game and I love seeing people improve and trying to teach them how to play the game better," Cowell said. "But the real gratification is when people have graduated five, ten, 15, 20 years ago, and they contact you. Those things are what make you realize that you actually made a difference in that person's life. We shouldn't take that lightly as leaders that we've had an impact on people. The gratification that I get from coaching is more of a long-term thing." 
 
This lasting impact is one of the main aspects that alumnae from the program highlight. CAITLYN GONZALEZ, a former starter for the program and 2023 graduate, looks back on her three years with St. Edward's women's soccer team "with so much love" and recalls feeling immediately welcomed once she arrived on the hilltop. 
 
"My experience was made up of amazing teammates that would become lifelong friends, a fun, yet competitive soccer environment where we focused on winning as well as setting an example for future teams to come," Gonzalez said. "He (Coach Nick) always cared so much about every player on the team and taught me that soccer is never as important as what's really going on in our lives, and to put ourselves and our mental health first. He helped me be confident in my ability to be the soccer player I worked hard to be, as well as the leader I knew I could be for the team."
 
Four-year Hilltopper, former captain and graduate assistant, and 2024 graduate TRISTYN CABELLO remembers being a part of the program as being involved in something bigger than herself. The development of connections and a mentality rooted in teamwork during her time at St. Edward's cements it as one of the "most meaningful" experiences of her life, which has continued to shape her as she advances her career.
 
"Coach instilled in me the importance of grit, accountability, and resilience," Cabello said. "Nick pushed me to not only grow as a player but as a leader. Now that I'm in grad school and coaching three female club teams, I draw on those lessons constantly, modeling the same values of commitment and consistency for my players."
 
After 20 years at St. Edward's and 35 years in the business, coaching has and will always be about the people. Cowell emphasizes the importance of a strong team culture, one that is formed mainly amongst players during and outside of practice, and highlights the relevance of leadership, unity, and selflessness. Cowell highlights Rachel Murray, a 2014 finalist for the NCAA DII Woman of the Year who volunteered in New York City during the pandemic, as an example of the values that he hopes to instill in his players. 
 
"You don't know if you've done a good job coaching someone until they've left the program," Cowell said. "To affect people, to have people go on from here and be strong leaders, to be able to contribute to that is something that I really enjoy. I have two daughters, and I want to treat everybody who comes through my program like they were one of my daughters. I try to personalize it that way and make sure that I take care of everybody." 
 
Within the current team, the players who have been a part of the program for the last four years – ELENA RAMOS BANET and captains KATIE FITZPATRICK and BAILEY WILLIAMS – express the depth of the impact that Cowell has had on them as players and as people as "monumental" and describe him as "more than a coach," someone who cares about them personally.
 
"Nick was my legal guardian for two months when I first came here," Ramos, an international student from Spain, recalls. "So in that sense, he was like a parent to me. He's been there for me, and at the end of the day, we've been seeing him every day for four years, so he's had a huge impact on our lives.

As seniors, Ramos, Fitzpatrick, and Williams hope to make this a special season, but much of the motivation stems from the desire to make it a special one for Cowell as well, in celebration of his milestone. They reflect Cowell's philosophy by highlighting their desire to succeed this year and their hope to leave the program as better people than they were when they entered four years ago, which they describe as "what Nick would want."
 
It is undeniable that Cowell has had an incredibly significant career on the hilltop, but Cowell's true impact and legacy are felt in the lives of each and every person who goes through his program – not just in the record books.