Tursi steps down at Willamette

Former Pilot great Jim Tursi, who has coached Women's Soccer at Willamette for years, is stepping down.

Here's a short from the Statesman Journal :

willamette
Women's soccer: Willamette has hired Hillary Arthur to be the school's women's head soccer coach.
Arthur, who guided the women's program at Western Nevada College at the junior college level for the past three seasons, replaces Jim Tursi.
Tursi coached the Bearcats for 15 seasons, compiling a record of 237-53-23 and leading Willamette to postseason play 10 times. The 1998 and 2001 teams reached the NCAA Division III final four.

Here's a link to the actual Willamette press release:

http://www.willamette.edu/athletics/news/article/2008/02/willamette_hires_arthur_as_head_womens_soccer_coach.xml

I've got to admit that I'm not exactly tied into the athletic department down here, but I'd be lying if I said this wasn't a surprise - at least for me. Tursi has done a tremendous job at Willamette, with last year's playoff team (that took #1 Trinity to PKs in the first round of the playoffs) and this year's rebuilding project. After struggling quite a bit in the early part of the season, they came on very strong at the end and look poised to make some more deep playoff runs in the years to come.

Best of luck to him from the Bearcat community.