Saint Mary’s College hires Theresa Romagnolo as head women’s soccer coach

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary’s College Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Matoso announced today the hire of Theresa Romagnolo as the new head women’s soccer coach of the Gaels.

Romagnolo has 16 years of collegiate coaching experience under her belt, including head coaching duties at Notre Dame and Dartmouth. Romagnolo is also familiar with west coast soccer as she’s spent time at both Stanford and the University of San Diego as an assistant.

“We are very excited to announce Theresa Romagnolo as our new head women’s soccer coach. Theresa has competed at the highest levels as a student-athlete, assistant coach and as a head coach and she has won everywhere she has been,” Matoso said. “We are excited about the future of our women’s soccer program under her leadership and welcome her into the Gael Family.”

The University of Washington graduate most recently served as head coach for the Fighting Irish from 2014-18 with high levels of success each season. Notre Dame made the NCAA Tournament in all four years of her tenure, including two trips to the Round of 16, and claimed their first-ever ACC Regular Season Championship in 2016 under Romagnolo’s tutelage. All told, Romagnolo posted a 51-21-13 record at UND and had a myriad of student-athletes receive honors ranging from Academic All-Americans to National Team and NWSL Draft selections.

“I’m humbled and honored to become the next head coach at Saint Mary’s College. I want to thank Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Matoso and Deputy Athletics Director Ryan Reggiani for this opportunity,” Romagnolo said. “I am very impressed with the culture they have created and the vision of the athletic department. Saint Mary’s offers a fantastic student-athlete experience in an unbeatable location, and I’m excited to inspire a passion for success through competition, unity, and perseverance. We will cultivate a relentless pursuit of excellence.”

Romagnolo left Notre Dame after her fourth season to spend time with her family and also was a volunteer coach at her alma mater in Seattle.

Prior to working in South Bend, Romagnolo spent three seasons leading the women’s team at Dartmouth. In just her second year with the Big Green, the program posted their second-highest winning percentage ever with a 13-4-0 showing and improved by nine wins from the year prior.

Dartmouth produced 16 all-conference players, three all-region selections, and an Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2012. Off the field, the Big Green had a 100 percent graduation rate, 3.4 team GPA, and had an academic All-American under Romagnolo.

As an assistant at Stanford, Romagnolo helped the Cardinal reach the Final Four in three of her four seasons, including two National Championship appearances. At San Diego, the Toreros reached the NCAA Tournament in three of her six seasons, and were consistently in the top-50 in the RPI.

As a player, Romagnolo was a standout at Washington as she was named all-conference all four years, an All-American and Scholar Athlete All-American, as well as helped her team win the Pac-10 Championship in 2000. She graduated in 2001 with a degree in business and played in the professional WUSA league for the San Jose CyberRays until 2003.