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Julianne Sitch became the first woman to coach a men’s soccer program to an NCAA championship when she led the University of Chicago past Williams College 2-0 in the Division III title game Saturday.
Sitch, a former star player for DePaul and the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars, guided the top-seeded Maroons to a 22-0-1 record in her first year as coach. The shutout win Saturday comes just eight months after Sitch returned to Chicago as head coach after serving two previous stints as an assistant with the team.
It was the first NCAA men’s soccer title in the program’s history and capped a season in which the Maroons set a school record for wins.
Julianne Sitch, @uchicagoath head coach, becomes the first woman to lead an NCAA men’s soccer team to a national championship!#TitleIX50 x #d3soc pic.twitter.com/QAZP9c8l9p
— NCAA (@NCAA) December 3, 2022
Sitch is one of only two women coaching a men’s NCAA soccer team in Division III (NYU’s Kim Wyant is the other).
“The credit goes to the team,” Sitch said after the win in Salem, Virginia. “I mean, these guys have never had a female coach before, and they embraced me as one of their own. For me, that will forever be a grateful moment.
“Just to watch them play, I’m extremely proud,” she added. “They wear their heart on their sleeve, they show up every day … the energy, the support, the togetherness, this is a team.”
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