Noreen Herlihy Named Akron Women’s Soccer Coach
Courtesy of Akron Athletic Communications
AKRON, Ohio — The University of Akron has named Noreen Herlihy, who has 250 career wins and 19 consecutive winning seasons, as its women's soccer coach, Director of Athletics Tom Wistrcill announced on Thursday.
Her hiring is pending approval by the University's Board of Trustees.
Herlihy joins the Zips after 20 seasons as the head coach at Slippery Rock where she led the program to 19 consecutive winning seasons, which ranks as the eighth-best in Division II history, and 18 seasons with 10 or more wins. With a record of 250-113-30, she is one of just 11 coaches in NCAA Division II history to record at least 250 career wins.
"We're thrilled to have Noreen join the Akron Athletics family," Wistrcill said. "It's great for our student-athletes, fans, and community to bring in a head coach with her track record of success to the University of Akron."
The head coach since 1995, Herlihy transformed Slippery Rock into a state, regional, and national power. During her tenure, SRU won three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships while advancing to the NCAA Division II payoffs eight times, the NCAA Round of 16 (or better) three times, and the NCAA quarterfinals in 2013.
"I am very excited about the opportunity to lead the University of Akron women's soccer program and be a part of the Akron Zips," Herlihy said. "I would like to thank President Scarborough, Tom Wistrcill, Mary Lu Gribschaw, and Alex Parker for their confidence in me as I start on this exciting journey. I look forward to meeting with the student-athletes and moving this program forward in a way in which we can all be very proud."
Herlihy's recruiting and coaching abilities are reflected in the fact that she has coached four players who have earned NSCAA All-America acclaim, including a pair of first-team selections, 20 All-Region performers, a two-time PSAC women's soccer Athlete of the Year, two other conference MVPs, and 38 student-athletes who have earned All-PSAC recognition.
The 2014 season was another banner year for Rock women's soccer under Herlihy as SRU concluded its season as one of the top teams in the region. SRU earned a PSAC Tournament berth after tallying a record of 11-6-1 despite sporting one of the youngest rosters in the PSAC with 13 underclassmen. For their efforts, four Slippery Rock student-athletes earned All-Conference honors and one was named to the Daktronics All-Region team. Nicole Krueger became the program's second student-athlete named Academic All-American.
In only her second season (1996), Herlihy tutored The Rock squad to a 14-5 record and has since led the team to 19 consecutive winning seasons.
Herlihy's leadership efforts did not go unnoticed. She was recognized by her peers as the 1996 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
A year later, SRU officials asked Herlihy to accept the added role of men's head coach and undertake the challenge of rebuilding that program.
The first woman to lead the SRU men's program, Herlihy served as a dual-team coach for four seasons before re-focusing her full attention on the women's team in 2001.
The results were phenomenal. Since 2001, The Rock women's program averaged 13.6 wins per season and made 11 appearances in the PSAC playoffs. During that span, the team also received nine NCAA tournament berths, claimed three PSAC regular season titles and two tournament championships.
The Rock postseason success started in 2000, when Slippery Rock made its first appearance in the PSAC playoffs. The following season, The Rock took a larger and more significant leap as it garnered its first NCAA regional tournament berth.
But the Green and White were not satisfied with just getting there. They also scored an opening-round win and, thus, earned a berth in the regional final in its first trip to the national playoffs.
The 2001 season was also a significant one for Herlihy personally. She recorded her 100th career win on Sept. 16, 2001, during a sweep of a women's/men's doubleheader against PSAC rival Shippensburg.
In 2003, The Rock added the PSAC regular-season and playoff championships and a second trip to NCAA postseason competition to its collection in the course of compiling a 15-3-2 won-lost ledger that, at the time, stood as the most victories in school history.
In recognition of her coaching efforts that season, Herlihy received her second PSAC Coach of the Year honor and was named as the NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year.
The Rock women followed up that memorable 10th anniversary season effort with a PSAC-Western Division regular-season title and a conference semifinal appearance in 2004.
Simultaneously to the women's meteoric sprint to success, Herlihy engineered the rebirth of The Rock men's program. Her first men's squad finished the 1997 season with a 10-8 record, doubling the win total from the previous season.
Herlihy's playing career was headlined by her selection to the Irish National Team from 1985-88, where she played in the European qualifiers against the likes of England, Scotland, Holland, and Sweden.
She was also named to a pair of All-America honors, selected as an Academic All-American and earned four All-Region honors at Mercyhurst.
Herlihy began her undergrad work at Massasoit Community College in Massachusetts, where she played basketball and soccer before earning an associates degree in liberal arts. She then transferred to Mercyhurst where she graduated in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in sports medicine. She continued her education while coaching at The Rock and received a master's degree in sports administration from Slippery Rock in 2004.
Following her graduation from Mercyhurst, Herlihy remained at the school for two seasons as an assistant women's soccer coach. She helped the 1993 and 1994 Lakers to the NCAA Division II final four before becoming the head coach at Slippery Rock in 1995.
Herlihy's contributions to the Mercyhurst women's soccer program were recognized in a big way in 2005 as she was inducted into the school's sports hall of fame. She was also inducted into the Massasoit Hall of Fame in the Class of 2011.
On top of her coaching efforts, Herlihy also oversaw the SRU Athletes for Forgotten Angels group. The Forgotten Angels project is an impressive community service group made up of student-athletes from all of Slippery Rock's sports teams. The group traveled to Haiti twice to deliver school supplies and teach youth sports clinics. It also traveled to New Orleans to help with the fallout of Hurricane Katrina, and took valuable educational materials and taught sports camps in St. Lucia.
