Brent Goulet

Brent Goulet (born June 19, 1964) is a retired American soccer forward who later coached SV Elversberg from 2004 to 2008. He began his career in the United States before moving to England and Germany, and also earned eight caps with the U.S. national team. He was the 1987 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year and was a member of the United States soccer team at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Early career

Goulet was born in Cavalier, North Dakota, but grew up in Tacoma, Washington. After graduating from Henry Foss High School in 1983, he attended Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon, which played in the NAIA, and was coached by Bernie Fagan, who had extensive professional experience at Sunderland A.F.C. and the Portland Timbers. Under Fagan's direction, Goulet became the dominant offensive player on the team, scoring 108 goals over four seasons. In 1984, Warner Pacific took third in the NAIA championship tournament.

WSL

In the 1986 offseason, Goulet played for F.C. Portland of the Western Soccer Alliance. Despite playing as an amateur in a professional league, Goulet led the league in scoring with nine goals and two assists. He played one more season with F.C. Portland in 1987, and was honored as the league MVP. The WSA season ran to the end of May. At the end of the season, Goulet joined Portland's rival F.C. Seattle for a five-game tour of Britain. That tour, which ran from July 27 to August 6, included a game with English Second Division club A.F.C. Bournemouth. Goulet's excellent play on the tour, which included two goals, led to Bournemouth offering him a contract.

United States national team

Goulet’s prolific scoring ability also brought him to the attention of the United States men's national soccer team and, in 1986, he earned his first cap in a February 5, 1986 0–0 tie with Canada. He played again two days later in a 1–1 tie with Uruguay. These were the only two national team games that year.

In 1987, the U.S. began qualification for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Goulet became a regular with the U.S. Olympic team, scoring six goals in six games. While the full national team played these matches, since they are part of Olympic soccer, FIFA did not recognize them as full internationals. Despite that, Goulet was recognized by USSF as its 1987 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year.

In 1988, he continued his excellent play with the Olympic team, scoring a goal in the U.S. team's 4–2 loss to the Soviet Union at the Summer Olympics. However, in full internationals he had difficulty both finding a place and scoring. In 1988, despite playing for the national team at the Olympics, he only played one international match, a May 14 loss to Colombia. Goulet began 1989 by playing three consecutive national team games, but did not play again until February 1990, when he played his last two games with the team. Throughout his eight games with the full team, he never found the net.^[1]

Goulet also earned 12 caps between 1987 and 1989 as part of the U.S. Futsal team. He scored four goals.^[2]

England and return to the WSL

By then struggling to make a living playing professional soccer, Goulet played six games with A.F.C. Bournemouth during the 1987–1988 season, but a scoring drought led to the team loaning him to Crewe Alexandra F.C., for which he scored three goals in three games.

From England, Goulet bounced back to the United States, playing with the Seattle Storm of the WSA in 1989 and 1990. In 1989, he began with a bang, scoring two hat-tricks before suffering an ankle injury on June 9. He returned at the end of the season and finished that year with six goals in six games. In October 1990, he signed with the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League, playing a single season before moving permanently to Europe.

Move to Germany

Rather than trying England again, Goulet elected to move to Germany. He began with Bonner SC, an Oberliga club, playing two seasons, with 31 goals in 1991–92. His prolific scoring led to a move to Tennis Borussia Berlin. In his first season with the team, he scored 21 goals, helping the club win promotion; however, in his second season, he failed to find the net and was sent back to Bonner SC with whom he played through 1994–95.

His itinerant existence continued the next few years as he left Bonner SC to play with Rot-Weiß Oberhausen during the 1995–1996 season, then Wuppertaler SV for two seasons.

Coaching in Germany

In 1998, Goulet made his last move as a player when he arrived at SV Elversberg. He would play with the team until 2001 when he broke his leg during a game. At this point, Goulet decided to retire from playing and enter the coaching career. He became an assistant coach at Elversberg and in 2004 was promoted to head coach. In March 2008, the club released Goulet.

References

External links

• MISL stats
• Brent Goulet at Fussballdaten (in German)

United States squad – 1988 Summer Olympics
1 Vanole 2 Trittschuh 3 Doyle 4 Crow 5 Windischmann 6 Klopas 7 Gabarra 8 Davis (c) 9 Goulet 10 Vermes 11 Eichmann 12 Krumpe 13 Harkes 14 Stollmeyer 15 Ramos 16 Murray 17 Armstrong 18 Duback 19 Bliss 20 Caligiuri Coach: Osiander