Lauren Johnson was hired as head coach of the Gustavus Adolphus College women's soccer program, Athletics Director Tom Brown announced May 6, 2025. Johnson, a 2021 Gustavus graduate and four-year starter for the Gusties, returns to the program after serving as an assistant coach at UW-La Crosse last year and as an assistant at Wartburg for two seasons.
As an assistant coach at UW-La Crosse, Johnson helped lead the Eagles to both the WIAC regular season and playoff championships with a 16-4-2 overall record and an appearance at the NCAA Championships. Johnson coached seven All-Conference honorees, four who earned All-Region, and two All-America selections, who were also CSC Academic All-Americans. Johnson also coached the 2024 WIAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.
Prior to UW-La Crosse, Johnson was an assistant coach at Wartburg for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. During those two seasons, Johnson and the Knights achieved a 22-14-3 overall record and hosted a regional round of the 2022 NCAA tournament. She coached the program's first All-America First Team honoree in 2022 as well as four All-Region and nine All-Conference selections. Johnson has been a summer camp coach at Gustavus since 2018 and has high school and youth coaching experience at both East Ridge and Mahtomedi.
As a player at Gustavus, Johnson started in all 63 career games with six goals and six assists as a midfielder before the 2020 pandemic cut her collegiate career short. She earned MIAC All-Conference honorable mention in 2018 and 2019. Johnson was also a starter for the Fire 98 WPSL semi-professional team in 2019.
Johnson becomes the sixth head coach in the 42-year history of Gustavus women's soccer. Gustavus has an all-time record of 363-308-70 with five MIAC regular season championships, one playoff title, and seven NCAA tournament appearances.
