SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga women's soccer Head Coach Chris Watkins announced the hiring of Katie Benz as an assistant to the Zags' staff.
 
"I want to express my thanks to Coach Watkins and Shannon Strahl for this amazing opportunity for my husband and I," Benz said. "I would also like to thank Chris Citowicki and the University of Montana administration for their guidance and support over the past four years.
 
""The care, passion and competitive spirit I have witnessed at Gonzaga is exciting and infectious and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to become a part of the Gonzaga Family. I feel that my values and philosophies as a coach align with both Chris and Lexi Brown. I look forward to working alongside them creating relationships with and developing our student-athletes and being a part of such a strong and successful program."
 
Benz joins the GU women's soccer program after four seasons as an assistant at Montana. She was on staff for a pair of Big Sky Conference championships, a tournament title in 2018, which sent the program to its first NCAA tournament since 2011, and a regular-season championship in 2019.
 
"I am grateful and excited to welcome Katie to our team," Watkins said. "She's proven to be a great coach and recruiter at Montana.  Most importantly, she's a great fit in our culture and will help us continue to grow and establish our program."
 
In her first season with Montana, in 2017, the Grizzlies finished second in the Big Sky and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals.
 
Montana has gone 24-22-16 with Benz as an assistant coach. She oversaw the program for four months in early 2018 while the Grizzlies were between head coaches.
 
Benz spent the 2016 season working as director of operations at Denver, her first year working at the collegiate level, and coaching in the Colorado Rush club program.
 
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but raised in Sonoma, Calif., Benz played collegiately at California.
 
She scored three goals in her first three seasons playing behind Alex Morgan. Each of those teams advanced to the NCAA tournament.
 
As a senior in 2011, Benz, a one-time Pac-12 Player of the Week, scored 10 goals in Cal's first eight matches, including a hat trick against Denver, before suffering a career-ending broken leg midway through a season that concluded with another trip to the NCAAs.
 
Benz graduated from Cal in 2012 with a degree in legal studies.