Sharif Saber

Head Coach

Sharif Saber will be in his third year as the head coach of USC Upstate Women’s Soccer in the 2024 season.

During his first two seasons coaching the Spartans, Saber helped the program go 20-9-8, while finishing 12-4-3 in the Big South and being named the Big South Coach of the Year in 2022. Upstate also went into the Big South Soccer Championship as the No. 2 seed in both seasons which is the highest seed in program history and advancing to the Big South Championship Game in 2023. At the conclusion of the 2022 season, the Spartans had seven All-Conference honors including the first ever Big South Freshman of the Year and Big South Goalkeeper of the Year. Six Spartans also carved their names into the Upstate women’s soccer record books after their performances through the 2022 season. In 2023 the Spartans had eight All-Conference honors which included the first ever Big South Offensive Player of the Year.

Before joining the Upstate program, Saber spent the last four seasons as the head coach at the University of Mount Olive (Mount Olive, N.C.), leading the program to two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, two Conference Carolinas regular season championships, and two Conference Carolinas tournament championships.

Helming the Trojan program, Saber led Mount Olive to three consecutive Conference Carolinas championships, claiming the Regular Season championship in 2019 and 2021, and the Conference Tournament championship in 2019 and 2020. Under his direction, the Trojans appeared in two NCAA Division II Tournaments, qualifying as the Southeast Region’s No. 6 seed in 2019—Mount Olive’s first NCAA Tournament appearance—and the Southeast Region’s No. 8 seed in 2021.

During the 2017 season, Saber served as an assistant at Kutztown University (Kutztown, Pa.), helping guide the program to a 16-win campaign that saw the Golden Bears earn the No. 4 Seed in the NCAA DII Tournament’s Atlantic Region while reaching No. 1 in the NCAA DII national poll.

Prior to Kutztown, Saber led the creation of the women’s soccer program at Penn State Brandywine (Media, Pa.), heading the program during its first two seasons of competition in 2015 and 2016. During his two seasons, he led the upstart program to 21 wins, collecting seven during the program’s inaugural season before leading the Lions to 14 victories in their follow-up campaign.

Earning 2016 United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Coach of the Year honors, Saber led Brandywine to the USCAA National Tournament, becoming the first Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference member to qualify for the National Tournament.

Before beginning the Penn State Brandywine program, Saber spent the 2014 season as an assistant at Immaculata University (Malvern, Pa.). Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, he spent four seasons as the varsity head coach at Kutztown (Pa.) High School, leading the program to four consecutive district appearances and two district championships (2011 and 2013).

At the club level, Saber has served the North Carolina Football Club (2018-pres.), Penn Fusion Soccer Academy (2014-17), and Boyertown Area Soccer Club (2003-2011) as a staff coach, capturing three State Cup championships and an Elite Clubs National League Regional championship.

Off the field, Saber was a member of the United Soccer Coaches (formally the National Soccer Coaches Association of America) 30 Under 30 Class of 2014 while also seeing his article “The Fragile Flame of Creativity” published in the NSCAA Soccer Journal during the Fall of 2014. Saber also holds numerous USC diplomas, including the Premier Diploma, Advanced National Diploma, and National Diploma.

Saber earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Bloomsburg University (Bloomsburg, Pa.) and a Master of Education in Social Studies from Kutztown University in 2009 and 2013, respectively.

Mark Laudenslager

Assistant Coach

Mark Laudenslager will be entering his third year as the assistant coach of USC Upstate Women’s Soccer in the 2024 season.

During the first two seasons at USC Upstate, Laudenslager has helped the team achieve 20 wins and in doing so, reach the Big South semi-final in 2022 and the Big South final in 2023 which was the first conference final game in program history. In those two seasons, Laudenslager helped the team garner several post season awards, two First Team All-Conference players, one Second Team All-Conference player, one Honorable Mention, one All-Academic team, one All-Freshmen Team, Big South Goalkeeper of the Year and Big South Freshman of the Year in 2022 and two First Team All-Conference players, 5 Second Team All-Conference players, one Honorable Mention, one All-Academic team, one All-Freshman team, and Big South Offensive Player of the Year in 2023.

Before joining USC-Upstate, he spent the previous 5 seasons at Kutztown University. While at Kutztown, Laudenslager helped lead the team to 3 NCAA DII top ten national rankings in 2017,2018, and 2021. Additionally, he assisted in guiding the team to 3 PSAC and NCAA tournament appearances and a combined record of 58-16-4 over 4 seasons.

During his time at Kutztown University, he also coached club soccer with Penn Fusion Soccer Academy, PA Dominion, and FC Delco. Laudenslager coached several teams both boys and girls. In his final season with FC Delco he lead his 2004 boys team to a State Cup Championship.

Laudenslager holds a Premier License from the United Soccer Coaches along with Goalkeeping III and Director of Coaching licenses.