West Virginia University Athletics

With nearly two decades of coaching experience to her name, Lisa Stoia begins her 17th season with the Mountaineer women’s soccer program at her alma mater. An integral cog in the emergence of the Mountaineers’ presence on the national stage, Stoia has helped guide WVU to multiple Big 12 and Big East titles, as well as 14 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament from 2007-20 and the 2016 NCAA College Cup Final.
 
West Virginia brought home its 10th Big 12 Conference title in 2022, as Stoia and the Mountaineers became the Big 12 Tournament champions after a 1-0 win over TCU in Round Rock, Texas. The title marked WVU’s 18th conference crown, with Stoia playing a role in 17 of those 18 conference championships as either a player or a coach.
 
Stoia’s guidance on the pitch helped the Mountaineers receive conference, regional and national recognition for its efforts in 2022. Five Mountaineers earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Teams. Kayza Massey and Jordan Brewster led the way on the All-Big 12 First Team, while Gabrielle Robinson, AJ Rodriguez and Dilary Heredia-Beltran were named to the Second Team. Massey also was tabbed the Big 12’s Co-Goalkeeper of the Year.
 
Brewster, Massey and Rodriguez also received All-Midwest Region honors by the United Soccer Coaches, as Brewster went on to earn her third consecutive All-America honor from the organization.
 
In keeping with a tradition to build and mold Mountaineers into professional and world-class athletes, Robinson and Brewster signed professional contracts at season’s end to join Stoia on WVU’s all-time list of pro players.

Academically, six Mountaineers were named Academic All-District selections by the College Sports Communicators, headlined by Brewster who went on to be named a CSC Academic All-American. West Virginia placed 13 student-athletes on the Fall Academic All-Big 12 Team, and Brewster also was named the Big 12 Conference Women's Soccer Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year.
 
The 2021 campaign saw WVU rank as high as No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll and finish 10-5-5 overall to extend its streak of at least 10 wins or more to 22 straight seasons. The Mountaineer defense recorded 11 shutouts on the year, the most since 2018.
 
Star defender Jordan Brewster earned her second career All-America selection by United Soccer Coaches, becoming the 14th player in program history to earn a pair of All-America accolades in her career. Additionally, Brewster was named a candidate for the 2021 Women’s Soccer Senior CLASS Award, WVU’s first honoree since 2018.
 
Under Stoia’s guidance, four Mountaineers earned a spot on the 2021 All-Big 12 Teams, including Brewster on the first team, Nicole Payne and Kayza Massey on the second team and Dilary Heredia-Beltran on the all-freshman team.

In 2020-21, Stoia helped the Mountaineer women’s soccer team find success in one of the most unusual seasons in the team’s history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team played a two-part season, split between the fall and spring, and used an undefeated spring slate to earn its 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. The Mountaineers grabbed the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after finishing the year 10-3-1 and beating a top-10 foe for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons.
 
West Virginia ranked as high as No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches poll in 2020-21. Jordan Brewster was named the 2020 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, as she became the fifth Mountaineer to collect the award in the last six seasons. Brewster, Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel and Alina Stahl were selected to the All-Big 12 First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Team. Brewster went on to be honored as a United Soccer Coaches All-American and was featured on the Missouri Athletic Conference (MAC) Hermann Trophy Award Watch List.
 
Under Stoia’s tutelage, West Virginia advanced to the NCAA Tournament Third Round for the fourth time in five years in 2019. The squad finished 12-8-2 on the year, including 5-3-1 inside the Big 12. The Mountaineers once again faced one of the toughest schedules in the country, taking on 10 teams that reached the NCAA Tournament.
 
Ranked as high as No. 11 in the national polls, Jordan Brewster and Rylee Foster earned All-Big 12 Second Team and United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Second Team honors, while a pair of freshmen – Enzi Broussard and Nicole Payne – were placed on the All-Big 12-Freshman Team.
 
In 2018, Stoia aided the Mountaineers climb back to champion status, as WVU claimed the Big 12 Soccer Championship title in November with a 3-0 showing at the league tournament, capped by a 3-0 victory over No. 9 Baylor in the title match. The title was the team’s 17th conference championship and ninth in Big 12 play.
 
WVU finished the season with a 15-4-4 mark and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Nationally ranked seven weeks throughout the season, the Mountaineers peaked at No. 8 and finished the year at No. 14. The Mountaineer offense produced 46 goals and 35 assists in 2018, with midfielder Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel finishing second on the team with 14 points and third on the team with six goals. Midfielder Nadya Gill paced WVU with seven assists.

For the second consecutive season, a conference-best eight Mountaineers grabbed All-Big 12 honors, including a first-team accolade for forward Sh'Nia Gordon and second-team recognition for midfielder Grace Cutler. Midfielder Addison Clark was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team. Gordon also was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region First Team. 
 
Following the 2018 campaign, four Mountaineers made waves in the professional leagues, with Gordon (FC Metz) and defender Easther Mayi Kith (Montpellier) signing professional contracts and defender Bianca St. Georges (Chicago Red Stars) and Cutler (Houston Dash) being drafted in the 2019 NWSL College Draft.
 
Stoia gained national coaching experience in May 2018, as she assisted with the United States’ U-19 Women’s National Team Training Camp, working with the midfielders while also aiding with the planning of camp sessions and game schematics and holding daily video sessions.
 
In addition to her on-field coaching assistance, Stoia also heads up the team’s travel throughout the season, as well as the team’s gear and its Nike Elite allotment. She also manages the Mountaineers’ on-campus visitations, recruiting and scouting efforts.
 
In 2017, Stoia, who was elevated to senior associate head coach prior to the season, helped the Mountaineer attack generate 40 goals and 38 assists en route to a 16-4-3 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Third Round, the team’s third consecutive trip. Ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, the program’s first-ever preseason No. 1 ranking, the Mountaineers sat within the top 10 of the poll each week in 2017 and within the top five for four weeks. WVU concluded the season ranked No. 10.
 
A conference-best eight Mountaineers claimed All-Big 12 honors in 2017, including a first-team accolade for forward Michaela Abam, second-team recognition for midfielder Carla Portillo and an All-Freshman Team honor for forward Lauren Segalla. Abam, a 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, concluded her career with three All-America honors, including second team recognitions from United Soccer Coaches and the Senior CLASS Award. She ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference in goals (10), No. 2 in points (23) and No. 3 in game-winning goals (4). Additionally, Portillo, who was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Second Team, ranked No. 3 in the conference in assists (7).
 
Following the 2017 campaign, Abam and defender Amandine Pierre-Louis were drafted No. 4 and No. 6 overall by Sky Blue FC at the 2018 NWSL College Draft.
 
A program goal that began even before she put on a Mountaineer uniform, Stoia helped WVU advance to its first-ever NCAA College Cup in 2016, where the team finished a program-best No. 2 nationally. Her 10th season as an assistant to coach Nikki Izzo-Brown, the Mountaineers also swept the Big 12 regular-season and championship titles for third time in four years. Additionally, WVU was nationally ranked each week and spent eight weeks at No. 1, the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking. The Mountaineers finished with a program-record 23 wins, as well as a nation-best and team-record 18 shutouts.
 
A program-high three Mountaineers collected five All-America honors, including a second consecutive NSCAA First Team honor for midfielder Ashley Lawrence, who also earned a Senior CLASS Award Second Team accolade. Additionally, Abam was named the co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, and six Mountaineers earned seven All-Big 12 honors, including first-team recognitions for Lawrence, her fourth straight, and Portillo.
 
Lawrence, a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy for the second consecutive year, finished the year No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference, No. 19 nationally, with a team-high 10 assists, the third-best total for a WVU senior and the fourth-highest season total in Mountaineer history. She dished out 29 assists throughout her four-year career, the third-best total in school history, and signed a professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain.
 
Portillo finished second on the team, fourth in the conference, with seven helpers.
 
Stoia also was integral in the mentoring of four-time NSCAA All-American Kadeisha Buchanan. The defender collected a slew of awards in 2016, including the MAC Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy. She also was named the 2016 espnW and TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year, won the Honda Cup Award for women’s soccer and was named to the Senior CLASS All-America First Team. She signed a professional contract with Olympique Lyonnais.
 
At season’s end, Stoia, alongside Izzo-Brown and associate head coach Marisa Kanela, earned the NSCAA Central Regional Staff of the Year award, her fourth career accolade since 2010.
 
Stoia helped the Mountaineers return to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals in 2015, their first appearance since 2007. Additionally, WVU collected its fourth straight Big 12 Conference regular-season title and spent 15 weeks ranked in the nation’s top 10, peaking at No. 2 in the NSCAA Poll, a position it held for two weeks. The Mountaineers finished the season ranked a then-program-best No. 7.
 
WVU set a program record for goals (61) and also tallied 19 wins and 15 shutouts. Stoia helped 10 Mountaineers collect a program-best 11 All-Big 12 honors, including recognitions for midfielders Lawrence (first team), Portillo (second team) and Amanda Hill (second team). Lawrence, a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, also earned NSCAA All-America First Team honors, and Hill was named to the Senior CLASS All-America Second Team.
 
Lawrence pushed the Mountaineers’ attack throughout 2015 and tallied a team-best eight assists, ranking No. 2 in the Big 12 with a 0.36 per-game average.
 
Stoia capped the season with her second straight NSCAA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year honor.
 
Five seasons ago, the Mountaineers captured the 2014 Big 12 Conference regular-season and championship titles and ended the year on a program record 19-match unbeaten streak. Lawrence ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 with seven assists and earned NSCAA All-Central Region First Team honors. She also was named to the All-Big 12 First Team. In total, three Mountaineer midfielders earned All-Big 12 recognitions, and the team tallied a Big 12-best nine all-conference honors.
 
For her efforts all season, Stoia was named the NSCAA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
 
In 2013, Stoia helped the Mountaineers to their fifth conference title in four consecutive seasons, as the squad successfully defended its Big 12 Conference regular-season title and won its first Big 12 Soccer Championship title. Additionally, she aided forward Frances Silva in winning the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors and saw WVU secure eight All-Big 12 awards. Silva ended the season tops in the Big 12 in goals (15), assists (13) and points (43).
 
Stoia helped WVU win the school’s first Big 12 championship with an unbeaten 2012 regular season. She guided midfielder Bri Rodriguez to All-Big 12 First Team honors, as well as NSCAA College Scholar All-America recognition.
 
In 2011, Stoia helped the Mountaineers post a 17-5-0 record. She mentored forward Kate Schwindel to a 19-point freshman season and the Big East Rookie of the Year award. Additionally, five Mountaineers were named All-Big East in the team’s final season in the conference.
 
Stoia, a former conference player of the year, has developed WVU’s midfield and front line, as Carolyn Blank twice earned All-America honors (2008-09). Blank also became the first Mountaineer since Stoia to be named Big East Midfielder of the Year.
 
With Rodriguez’s All-Big East First Team selection in 2010, it gave WVU a midfielder on the league’s first team five straight seasons. Stoia’s efforts were recognized as she was named NSCAA/Mondo North Atlantic Regional Assistant Coach of the Year.
 
Ten years ago, Stoia played in the 2009 Women’s Professional Soccer league after being drafted with the 48th overall pick by the Saint Louis Athletica. In the WPS’ inaugural season, Stoia helped the Athletica to a second-place finish and WPS Super Semifinal playoff appearance.
 
In 2007, WVU advanced deep into postseason play, making a trip to the school’s first NCAA Elite Eight. She also helped midfielder Amanda Cicchini earn All-America honors.
 
Stoia spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons as an assistant coach at Jacksonville, where she helped guide the Dolphins to a 2006 NCAA Tournament berth. The Dolphins posted their first double-digit win total since 2002 and earned their second Atlantic Sun Championship in school history.
 
She was active in securing the Atlantic Sun’s top recruiting class according to Soccer Buzz magazine, which rated Jacksonville’s 2007 class as best in the conference.
 
JU players benefited from Stoia’s two seasons of leadership as four Dolphins picked up all-conference recognition, and forward Keri Zwikker earned 2005 Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year honors.
 
In the summer, Stoia competed for two seasons as a midfielder with the Boston Renegades in the Women's United Soccer League. In 2006, she led the team and ranked second in the league with 11 assists. She also ranked fifth in the league with 29 points and finished with nine goals on the season.
 
Prior to JU, Stoia served as a student assistant coach at WVU in 2004. That season, she helped the program to its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, including a first-round win over SMU.
 
A four-year letterwinner at West Virginia from 2000-03, Stoia set Mountaineer career records for assists (33) and matches played and started (87). As a senior, she set a program record with 12 assists and was second on the squad with seven goals and 26 points en route to Big East Midfielder of the Year along with NSCAA and Soccer Buzz All-America accolades.
 
Stoia earned NSCAA and Soccer Buzz Second Team All-America honors, Big East Midfielder of the Year and All-Big East First Team recognition as a junior after finishing with eight goals, 10 assists and 26 points. As a sophomore, she earned Soccer Buzz Honorable Mention All-America, Soccer Buzz First Team All-Region, NSCAA/adidas Second Team All-Region and All-Big East First Team accolades after tallying four goals and five assists. Stoia also earned NSCAA/adidas Third Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region and Big East co-Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman.
 
Stoia also was a member of the U.S. U-21 Women’s National Team Pool in 2003. A year later, she was named a 2004 National Strength and Conditioning All-American.
 
In June 2019, Stoia was named to the 29th class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted in September 2019, becoming just the third women’s soccer player to be selected.
 
In September 2007, she was inducted into William Floyd High’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
A native of Shirley, New York, Stoia earned her bachelor's degree in sport management from West Virginia in 2005 and her Master of Business Administration from Jacksonville in 2007.