Ally Nick
Head Coach
nick@njit.edu
New Jersey Tech
Division 1
Head Coach
nick@njit.edu
New Jersey Tech
Division 1
Nick is the new head coach of New Jersey Institute of Technology womens soccer, Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Lenny Kaplan announced on March 8, 2016.
Nick, who will be taking on her first college head coaching assignment with the Highlanders, is a product of the extremely successful program at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where she was a player coached by Paul Royal, who added her to his coaching staff after she graduated.
As a player, her teams won 39 games and tied 6 in four seasons and La Salles won-lost in her five years on the coaching staff was 70-27-11. Nick completed her fifth season as an assistant coach with La Salle in November 2015.
Her first four seasons on the staff were the best in La Salle history, as the Explorers reached the NCAA Tournament four seasons in a row, capturing the Atlantic 10 regular season title three times and the A-10 tournament twice.
In that 4-year span, La Salle was 61-18-8, the 13th-best record in Division I.
Playing for and then coaching on Paul Royals staff, Nick learned from the three-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and she, herself, was honored by her peers in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as a Regional Assistant Coach of the Year following both the 2012 and 2014 seasons (there is one honoree in each of eight regions nationwide).
I think she will be a shining star, said Kaplan in hiring Nick as head womens soccer coach. I am excited and looking forward to starting a new era of NJIT womens soccer.
Ally is hard-working and passionate about soccer. You can tell from her in-person interview and then from speaking to others she is thought of highly in the soccer community.
Among her duties in the La Salle program, Nick had a direct hand in organizing the defense, which has been a cornerstone of the teams success under Royal.
As La Salle's defensive coach, Nick helped establish a backline that is a force in the A-10. In 2011, the Explorers went unscored upon for the first 11 games of the season and maintained a 0.58 goals against average on the way to an 18-game unbeaten streak.
The Blue and Gold were undefeated in the A-10 in 2012 and 2014, held opponents to a 0.72 goals against average in 2013, notching 31 shutouts over those three seasons. Nick coached three players to A-10 Defender of the Year Award winners.
She was also responsible for monitoring team academic progress, where La Salles success in the classroom may actually outshine the glowing success on the soccer pitch.
In eight of nine semesters, La Salle womens soccer had the highest team GPA of any of the Universitys 23 varsity intercollegiate teams. Individually, womens soccer garnered 31 academic awards at the national, regional, and conference level during Nicks coaching tenure.
She began coaching at La Salle in August 2011, shortly after graduating from the school earlier that year.
Known as Ally Kenney when she was a star student-athlete and three-year team captain at La Salle, the resident of Sewell in South Jersey made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team as a freshman and continued to receive playing and academic honors throughout her time in an Explorers uniform.
As a senior, she was second-team All-Atlantic 10 and Womens College Best XI first team.
In addition, she made the A-10s All-Academic team, the Academic All-District 2 first team (precursor to Academic All-America) and the Academic All-Area team.
Playing for La Salle against NJIT, she scored a goal vs. the Highlanders in her sophomore season; and had a goal and an assist vs. the Highlanders in her junior season.
She graduated from La Salle tied for third on the all-time list in games played (78) and tied for first in career starts (76). Her 14 career assists are eighth all-time at La Salle and her nine assists as a senior equal the fifth-best total in program annals. She scored 9 career goals.
Outside of college soccer, Nick is an identification staff coach for the United States Soccer Federation U-14 Youth National Team, as well as a staff coach for the Region 1 Olympic Development Program in Brick, NJ.
She is further involved in the sport at the camp and club level, including the South Jersey Elite Barons club and Penn Fusion Soccer Academy ECNL, where she is a staff coach.
I would like to thank Lenny Kaplan, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Andrew Schwartz and the rest of the search committee for this opportunity to lead NJITs Womens Soccer program, Nick said as she took the helm at NJIT. I would also like to sincerely thank everyone at La Salle University, especially (coach) Paul Royal and (Director of Athletics) Dr. Thomas Brennan, who have been instrumental in my career and incredible mentors.
I am excited to build a strong, winning program at NJIT and I believe with the institutions high academic standards, administrations support and new facility, it is a great time to be a Highlander!
She takes over at NJIT from Mandi Risden, who stepped down in January after three seasons as head coach and five years as an assistant coach before that. NJITs overall record in 2015 was 2-14, including 0-7 in its first season as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Ally Nick holds a BA (May 2010) and MBA (December 2013) from La Salle University.