SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University head women's soccer coach Amy Edwards announced the hiring of Morgan Church to serve as a Bulldog assistant coach. Church replaces Derek Pittman who left GU to become the head women's soccer coach at the University of Idaho.
"Derek's departure is bittersweet as we wish him all the best in his new head coaching position at Idaho," explained Edwards. "Derek left some big shoes to fill but after an exhaustive search, we believe Morgan is a tremendous fit for our program. Morgan brings a variety and wealth of experience to Gonzaga. She has played at a high level and developed many talented players. Morgan is prepared and ready to continue our quest for a West Coast Conference Championship."
Church comes to Gonzaga from the University of North Florida where she served on the women's soccer staff for seven years, the final three years as the associate head coach. During her time at UNF, Church coached 12 Atlantic Sun All-Conference players, seven Atlantic Sun All-Freshman team honorees and the 2010 Freshman of the Year. During her tenure, two players were also named CoSIDA Academic All-American's and the team received the NSCAA Team Academic Awards five of her seven seasons.
"I would like to thank Coach Amy Edwards and Associate Athletic Director Shannon Strahl for inviting me to be part of the Gonzaga family," said Church. "This is an exciting opportunity to work with Coach Edwards and the driven student-athletes in the women's soccer program. I am grateful to North Florida for allowing me to be a part of their program for the past seven seasons, but I look forward to investing in a new group of student-athletes at Gonzaga and helping build upon their success in the West Coast Conference."
Church played collegiate soccer at Marshall University before transferring to the University of Charleston for her sophomore and junior seasons. While at Charleston, Church was a two-time All-Conference selection after leading the team in scoring each of the two seasons she was there. She ended her career at Berry College. In her one season at Berry, Church started in 19 of the teams 20 games, leading the Lady Vikings in goals with 12. She finished the season ranked third on the team in points with 27, adding three assists to her goal total.
She went on to play professionally in the W-League with the Tampa Bay Hellenic, the Washington Freedom -where she won a W-League Championship, the Carolina Dynamo and the Northern Virginia Majestics. After retiring, Church was the assistant commissioner for the Washington Freedom from 2006-07.
Church, who is licensed by the United States Soccer Federation with a USSF "A" coaching license and holds both a NSCAA Regional Goalkeeper license and a NSCAA Professional Development certificate, has coached and developed top players in the Florida Olympic Development Program (ODP) and was chosen to participate on the Region 1 and Region 3 Olympic Development coaching staff. She has also coached on the club level including stints with Jacksonville FC and Creeks Soccer Club.
She graduated magna cum laude from Berry with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
