The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Soccer
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Texas head soccer coach Angela Kelly announced on March 28, 2017, that former Claremont-Mudd-Scripps head coach Keri Sanchez had been hired as the new assistant coach for the Longhorns soccer program.
Sanchez is involved in all aspects of the program and took over the position vacated by former assistant Lance Key, who served on Kelly's staff during the 2016 campaign.
In the 2019 campaign, the Longhorns posted an 11-8-1 overall record, on the way to a third-place finish in the Big 12 Conference (6-3-0), while recording the program’s third-consecutive trip to the NCAA Field of 64 (first time that had been done since 2006-08). Sophomore midfielder Julia Grosso earned third-team United Soccer Coaches All-American honors after posting eight goals and eight assists, while senior forward Cyera Hintzen (five goals, four assists) joined her as a United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region selection. Junior midfielder Haley Berg (second team) totaled eight goals and a team-leading nine assists in becoming one of five Longhorns to earn All-Big 12 Conference honors including Grosso (first team), Hintzen (second team), sophomore defender Emma Regan (second team) and rookie forward Sydney Nobles (all-freshman team).
Year number two for Sanchez proved to be another strong campaign for the Longhorns as Texas posted a 13-5-3 record on the way to a Big 12 Championship semifinal berth and a second straight NCAA Tournament bid. The Burnt Orange & White started off 9-0-2, won their first 10 home matches and climbed as high as No. 6 in two of the three national polls. Forward Cyera Hintzen earned the program’s first Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year accolade after leading the league in assists (nine) and points (29) while rating second in goals (10). Midfielder Julia Grosso picked up the Longhorns’ third-straight Big 12 Freshman of the Year accolade, while midfielder Haley Berg joined Hintzen and Grosso on the United Soccer Coaches All-Region teams.
During her first season on the Forty Acres, she helped Texas to a 14-4-3 overall mark, including getting off to the best start in program annals (11-0), while reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 for only the fourth time in school history. Along the way, Texas was the last undefeated and untied team in all of NCAA Division I women’s soccer and equaled school records with an 11-match winning streak and a 13-match unbeaten skein to open the campaign. UT also reached a high of seventh in the national polls before finishing the year at No. 14. Texas was remarkably clutch in extra time, managing a school-record-tying five OT victories.
As the head coach at Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps over 13 seasons, Sanchez amassed an overall record of 148-92-30, with a 102-49-15 mark in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play, while becoming the winningest coach in the history of CMS women's soccer.
While in charge of the program at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Sanchez guided the Athenas to three SCIAC regular-season titles (2007, 2009, 2014), five SCIAC Tournament titles (2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016) and five NCAA Tournament bids, including a NCAA Sweet 16 berth in 2008, while registering National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) final rankings of No. 23 in 2008 and No. 18 in 2009.
Individually, Sanchez coached athletes at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps that secured 58 All-SCIAC, 34 NSCAA All-Region and 38 NSCAA Scholar All-Region accolades.
In addition to her efforts at CMS, Sanchez worked previously as the U.S. Soccer Training Center Coordinator for Southern California-Inland Empire (2013-17), helping to develop technical and tactical female players ages 10-14. She has also spent time as a staff coach for the Team First Soccer Academy (2011-17), working alongside Kelly as well as U.S. Soccer legends Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tisha Venturini-Hoch.
Prior to her time as a head coach at CMS, Sanchez served as an assistant coach at the University of Oregon from 1996-2003. During her time in at UO, she assisted in coaching, organizing practices, recruiting, budgeting, travel, scheduling, monitoring academics and in organizing community camps and clinics.
During her own standout playing career, Sanchez played professional soccer in the WPS with the LA Sol (2009), in the WUSA for both the Boston Breakers (2001-02) and San Jose Cyberrays (2003) and continues to participate in the WPSL (1996-2000, 2004-present), where she was part of a 2004 national championship with the California Storm.
As a member of the U.S. Women's National Team Pool from 1991-95 and 2001, Sanchez earned 13 caps for Team USA including playing for the U.S. Women's National Team against Haiti during the first-ever round of qualifying for the 1991 Women's World Cup. She also trained with the Red, White & Blue for six months at the Seminole Training Complex prior to the 1995 World Championships. From 1990-93, Sanchez was a member of the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team, traveling to numerous foreign tournaments.
A teammate of Kelly's at the University of North Carolina from 1991-94, she was part of four straight NCAA National Championship and Atlantic Coast Conference title teams that registered a 97-1-1 combined overall record under the guidance of legendary head coach Anson Dorrance. During her time in Chapel Hill, Sanchez totaled 32 career assists while earning a Soccer News All-American nod (1993), a pair of All-ACC selections (1991, 1994), three NCAA All-Tournament (1991, 1992, 1994) choices and three Academic All-American inclusions. She also registered the match-winning scores in consecutive national championship games with goals against Duke (1992) and George Mason (1993). At UNC, Sanchez was also a part of three ACC Championship track & field teams (one indoor, two outdoor) while earning all-conference accolades in the 400m hurdles.
For her efforts, she has been inducted into both the San Jose Sports Authority Hall of Fame (2010) and the East Side Union High School District Education Foundation Thomas P. Ryan Hall of Fame (2012)
Sanchez holds a bachelor of arts degree in physical education with an emphasis in health and fitness from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1995) and a master's of science in exercise physiology from the University of Oregon (1999). She also holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) "B" license (obtained in 1997), has secured her U.S. Soccer A-Youth license and is a graduate of both the NCAA Women's Coaching Academy (2008) and NCAA Women's Coaching Academy 2.0 (June 2019).
