SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University director of athletics Roberta Page has announced Rock Athletics Hall of Famer and legendary women's soccer coach Noreen Herlihy will return to The Rock as head women's soccer coach.
 
"We're thrilled to welcome Noreen back to The Rock and to add one of the winningest coaches in Division II women's soccer to our Athletics Department," said Page. "Noreen is deeply passionate about this program and truly understands the history of SRU women's soccer. She has proven that she knows how to build a team and a culture that succeeds on the field and in the classroom at this level. We are excited to welcome her home."
 
Herlihy spent 20 years leading the SRU women's soccer team as the program's second head coach from 1995-2014. She became the winningest coach in program history through those two decades, amassing a 250-113-30 (.674) record. She then spent seven years as a Division I head coach at the University of Akron and has spent the last three years as head coach at Indiana University (Pa.).
 
Herlihy returns to The Rock with a career record of 305-206-62 (.586), making her one of only 15 active Division II coaches in the country with at least 300 wins. She currently ranks 14th among all active Division II coaches in total victories and her 305 wins are 23rd all-time among Division II women's soccer coaches.
 
Most recently, Herlihy took an IUP squad to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years after she led the team to an 11-3-4 overall record in 2024. She was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Coach of the Year, an honor she received three other times at Slippery Rock.
 
"I want to thank Dr. Riley, Dr. Page and the search committee for giving me the opportunity and entrusting me to return home as the head coach of Rock Women's Soccer," said Herlihy. "As I step into this new chapter with SRU, my heart is full. I am excited for the road ahead and also grateful for my experience over the last few years. I will never forget the players I have had to say goodbye to, the bonds created and the lasting memories of our time together. Now, with gratitude in my heart and fire in my spirit, I look forward to meeting the players and building something just as meaningful with this new group of young women."
 
Prior to IUP, Herlihy spent seven years at the Division I ranks helping rebuild an Akron program that ended up reaching the Mid-American Conference Tournament three times, doubling the amount of playoff appearances in Zips' women's soccer history.
 
At Slippery Rock, Herlihy took a program that had won six total games in its first two years of existence and engineered a regional powerhouse over the next 20 years. A 14-5 1996 season kickstarted a 19-year stretch of winning seasons with Herlihy on the sidelines.
 
Through her 20 seasons with SRU, she led The Rock to three PSAC Championships, 12 PSAC Tournament appearances and nine NCAA Tournament appearances. The team reached the NCAA Round of 16 in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons and made a program-best NCAA Quarterfinal run in 2013.
 
On top of being named a Coach of the Year within the conference in 1996, 2003 and 2012, Herlihy was honored as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in both 2003 and 2012.
 
Among her very talented recruiting classes at Slippery Rock were four NSCAA All-Americans, 20 All-Atlantic Region honorees, two PSAC Athletes of the Year and 38 All-Conference selections, on top of a plethora of academic awards.
 
In addition to building The Rock women's soccer program into a perennial regional and national contender, Herlihy also helped rebuild the SRU men's soccer program, serving as SRU's head coach for five seasons (1997-2001). She racked up 42 wins on the men's side, which at the time was the team's best five-year stretch for the program in 19 years.
 
While her on-field accomplishments at Slippery Rock were remarkable, her passion for community service and creating life-changing experiences for SRU student-athletes was just as impressive. Herlihy oversaw the SRU Athletes for Forgotten Angels, a community service group which was made up of student-athletes from all Slippery Rock sports teams. The group traveled to Haiti twice to deliver school supplies and teach youth sports clinics, served in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and taught sports camps in St. Lucia. In 2014, she led a group of student-athletes to Nairobi, Kenya to work at Hekima Place, a home for orphaned girls.
 
Herlihy played basketball and soccer at Massasoit Community College in Massachusetts, earning an associate's degree in liberal arts before transferring to Mercyhurst University and graduating with a B.S. in sports medicine in 1992. She remained with the Lakers for the next two years as an assistant coach, helping lead Mercyhurst to a 1994 NCAA Tournament semifinal appearance.
 
She was later honored by both schools, being inducted into the Mercyhurst Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Massasoit Hall of Fame in 2011. Most recently, Herlihy was inducted into the Slippery Rock Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
 
A native of Ireland, her playing career was headlined by a selection to the Irish National Team from 1985-88, where she participated in the qualifying rounds of the tournament now referred to as the UEFA Women's Championship, playing against the likes of England, Scotland, the Netherlands and Sweden.
 
The Slippery Rock women's soccer program has kept its winning ways alive since Herlihy's departure, wrapping up a 28th straight winning season with a 9-6-4 record and a trip to the PSAC semifinals in 2024. She takes over the program from Jessica Giegucz, who stepped down this spring after leading the team from 2015-24.
 
Herlihy will officially begin her role at Slippery Rock April 21. SRU is tentatively scheduled to open the 2025 season with a night game at home Sept. 4 against Shepherd University at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
 
 


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