Joey Backhaus joined the Wofford staff in the summer of 2025. Backhaus is a recent graduate of Marietta College and will work with the goalkeepers.
“We are excited to welcome Joey into our men’s soccer family,” said head coach Ryan Osborne. “Joey is a very strong, up-and-coming young coach who I know will add a lot of quality to our program on and off the field.”
In his first season with the Terriers, Backhaus helped lead the team to a 6-11-2 record. The team picked up key road wins over Coastal Carolina, Longwood, and Winthrop. Wofford played Wake Forest, who was ranked the No. 1 team in the nation early in the season, to a 2-2 draw on the road. Four players were honored on All-Southern Conference teams, including a first team selection for Kalle Rahbek. Nathan Simes and Jakob Andersson were named to the second team while Samuel Byron was named to the all-freshman team. As a team, Wofford ranked top three in the SoCon in total points (90), total goals (30), total assists (30), shot accuracy (.450), and scoring offense (1.58).
As a senior during the 2024 season at Marietta College, Backhaus started 14 games and made 74 saves with a .771 save percentage. He was named All-OAC second team in 2024 and earned a spot on the OAC All-Tournament Team in 2023. For his career, he played in 47 games with 197 saves and six clean sheets.
The native of Canfield, Ohio, graduated with a degree in strategic communications. While at Canfield High School, he was named first-team All-District, first-team All-County and first-team All-Conference. He has Level 1 and Level 2 goalkeeper licenses from United Soccer Coaches and is a USSF D licensed coach.
