​If the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s soccer team continues the notable turnaround it has enjoyed since Matt Kagan was hired as coach before last season, the school will have former men’s leader Jeremy Bonomo to thank for it.Bonomo, who spent nine seasons at UWGB before being hired by Northeastern in 2024, was college roommates with Kagan when the two played at Southern New Hampshire University in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  When UWGB athletic director Josh Moon was seeking a replacement on the women’s side for Julie Grutzner two years ago, Bonomo told him about Kagan.   Moon soon left a voicemail for Kagan.“It was verbatim, ‘Hey, Matt, Jeremy Bonomo says you are a good person. I only believe 50% of what he says, so call me back,’” Kagan said.Kagan didn’t know who this Moon fellow was, but it was a pretty funny message.He did a search, saw Moon was the AD in Green Bay and called back.The two spoke for 45 minutes about what Moon was looking for in a new coach.Kagan was an assistant at Washington State at the time. In his previous two stops, he had served as head coach at Oregon State and associate head coach at Mississippi State.Why the heck would he be interested in the UWGB position, considering how much the program has struggled for much of its existence? The program has had losing campaigns in 16 of the previous 18 years.Kagan spoke to his wife. From the cost of living to raising a family, Green Bay was off the charts for the couple.That part all fit, especially with one young daughter and another on the way.Professionally, Kagan believed UWGB was a sleeping giant.The location of the school was great. Getting to practice at the Don Hutson Center across the street from Lambeau Field, and that affiliation with the Green Bay Packers, was cool. Offering the type of degrees many players want to attend school for was a big selling point.“Just all these things that I thought could be successful,” Kagan said. “You are hopeful you can turn a program around. Those are the big reasons why we did it.”UWGB finds success under Matt KaganKagan makes one thing particularly clear when talking about the Phoenix and the success it has enjoyed since last season: The turnaround is more the result of all the talented players, along with assistants Josh Davis and Carly McCrumb, than him.He might be underselling himself. This isn’t the first instance a team has gotten much better in a short period of time under Kagan.Just look back at his work with Oregon State from 2019 to 2021.The Beavers were 2-17 the season before he arrived and went 11-6-2 his first year, the best turnaround in the NCAA that season.It was a somewhat similar story at UWGB, which went 4-8-5 the year before he was hired. In his first season with the Phoenix, it went 8-9-4 and finished runner-up in the Horizon League tournament for the first time.  That’s nothing compared to how 2026 has started.UWGB enters a Sept. 24 home match against Detroit at Aldo