University of Utah’s soccer coach Amy Winslow resigned as head coach Friday. Winslow has served as the only coach in the seven years of women’s soccer at Utah.
During her tenure at Utah, Winslow racked up a 77-35-5 record and led her team to the co championship of the Mountain West Conference in 1999.
“I am resigning to pursue other interests,” Winslow said. “I will miss my association with the staff, players and university.”
Winslow’s career at Utah has been a spectacular one. In 2000, 14 of her players were named to the All-Conference Academic Team, more than any other team in the Mountain West Conference.
This year, four of her players were named to the All-Mountain West Conference Team, two of them on the First Team. Amy Kofoed and Shauna Gurr-Bingham were First Team members, with Bobbie Benegas and Amber Brower named to the Second Team.
Former Utah star Staci Burt is playing professionally in the Women’s United Soccer Association for the Carolina Courage. She was Utah’s all-time leading scorer until Amy Kofoed broke the record this year.
“We’re proud of what we did here. We’re proud of what we accomplished,” Winslow said. “We did everything right for these kids. I leave missing the good things that were accomplished.”
This year, the Utes went 11-7, and came one game short of making the NCAA Tournament. Winslow never had the chance to go to the NCAA Tournament in her seven years at Utah. Also, for the first time in Utah women’s soccer history, the Utes went undefeated at home, sporting a 7-0 record.
The Utah Athletics Department will begin a nationwide search for Winslow’s replacement. “We anticipate a pool of very qualified candidates for this job,” Associate Athletics Director Amy Hackett said.
Winslow is very excited for what the team she’s leaving should be able to accomplish next year, even though she will not be on the sidelines for the Utes. High ranking teams will be coming to Salt Lake City to battle the Utes.
“There are some great teams coming in next year, some of the teams we’ve had to play on the road in past years,” Winslow said. “This team is capable of accomplishing great things. The team is just going to get better. We left the program in a good state, with only good things.”
Utah will have all but two of its starters returning. Only Amy Kofoed, Alli Cerruti and Lesa Zollinger are graduating this year.
“We’re going to miss the players,” Winslow said. “The players were just great to work with. We can honestly say we had a great group of players. It’s a tough thing [to leave].”