PULLMAN — Keidane (KEY-Dawn-EE) McAlpine was named the Washington State University head soccer coach, athletic director Bill Moos announced today. McAlpine becomes the fifth coach in program history after spending the past six seasons as an assistant coach at Auburn. With the Tigers, he was part of a staff that guided Auburn to six-straight NCAA postseason appearances.

“Keidane is an outstanding soccer coach and a welcome addition to Washington State University and our athletic department,” Moos said. “He has been successful at every stop during his career, and I am confident he will continue to move our program forward.”

The Cougars advanced to the NCAA Championship in three of the past four seasons, including second-round appearances in 2009 and 2011.

“I’m very fortunate to be leading such an experienced group of student-athletes at Washington State,” McAlpine said. “A lot of starters return from the 2011 NCAA team and they know what it takes to compete in the Pac-12, one of the nation’s best conferences. Most people don’t get that opportunity and I am looking forward to it."

A 1997 graduate of Birmingham-Southern, McAlpine played four seasons for the Panthers, including 1996 when he was the captain of the NAIA national runner-up squad. The Huntsville, Ala., native served as an assistant coach at Birmingham-Southern for three seasons (1998-2000) and helped the Panthers reach their first NAIA National Tournament (2000).

He became the head coach at Birmingham-Southern prior to the 2001 season and led the Panthers for five years while the program transitioned to the NCAA level. In 2004, BSC captured the Big South championship and earned an NCAA Championship berth.

McAlpine worked with every area of the offense and defense during his tenure at Auburn and the Tigers won three Southeastern Conference Western Division crowns.