Just over two months before its first match, the NIU women’s soccer team can now say it has a coach.

Marci Miller, formerly a player for the U.S. national team, was hired by athletic director Jim Phillips June 1, and will begin her assignment Wednesday.

The 29-year-old St. Charles native is the second coaching hire in three months for Phillips.

“Marci has the energy, enthusiasm, knowledge and passion for the game which will help our student-athletes grow,” Phillips said. “To us, she represents the total package of who we’re looking for to lead our program.”

Miller’s hire comes after 12-year coach Frank Horvat announced his resignation April 4. Horvat led the Huskies to their best record in six years with a 6-7-5 finish in 2004.

Shortly after her hire, Miller chose her husband, Paul Jobson, to serve as her assistant.

Miller was a member of the U.S. women’s U-17 national team before playing for the University of Wisconsin in 1994 and 1995. In both years, she was named an All-Big Ten player.

For her junior season, Miller transferred to Southern Methodist, and after graduation went on to lead the semi-pro Chicago Cobras as captain for four years.

In 1997, Miller received her first call to play for the U.S. national squad in a match against France. In 2001, she went professional with the WUSA Atlanta Beat.

“I’m really excited,” senior midfielder Christie Ehrhardt said. “Obviously, as a player, she’s been through things that we’ve been through and she’s been at a level most of us haven’t been at.”

Coaching-wise, Miller was an undergraduate assistant at Southern Methodist and one of four top staff coaches for the Atlanta United Soccer Association, specializing in U-15, U-16, and U-17 teams.

Miller said she was excited with the “chance to return to my home roots with the opportunity to continue to build a women’s soccer program.”