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Keri Sanchez

Keri Sanchez

Keri Sanchez was named the fifth Head Women's Soccer Coach in Illinois Wesleyan history Tuesday, May 18, 2021. She enters her first season leading the Titans in 2021.

Year             Overall CCIW Place
2021     9-8-1 7-1 (T1)
TOTALS 9-8-1 (0.528) 7-1 (0.875)


Sanchez, who won four NCAA National Championships as a player at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and has 13 caps with the United States Women's National Team, brings a wealth of coaching experience that spans Division I and Division III. Sanchez's 25-year coaching career includes stops at the University of Texas, Claremont Mudd-Scripps, and the University of Oregon.

Sanchez most recently served as an assistant coach at Texas under her former college teammate Angela Kelly. During her time with the Longhorns, UT amassed a 45-22-12 record and earned a national ranking as high as No. 6 in two of the three Division I polls. Sanchez was pivotal in the development of Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Cyera Hintzen, who became the first player to garner the honor in school history in 2018.

Prior to her stint with the Longhorns, she had a 13-year run as head coach at Claremont Mudd Scripps. Sanchez amassed an overall record of 148-92-30, with a 102-49-15 mark in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play, while becoming CMS' winningest coach in program history.

While at the helm of the Athenas' program, Sanchez guided Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to three SCIAC regular-season titles (2007, 2009, 2014), five SCIAC Tournament titles (2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016) and five NCAA Tournament bids, including a NCAA Sweet 16 berth in 2008, while registering National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) final rankings of No. 23 in 2008 and No. 18 in 2009.

Individually, Sanchez coached athletes at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps that secured 58 All-SCIAC, 34 NSCAA All-Region and 38 NSCAA Scholar All-Region accolades.

In addition to her efforts at CMS, Sanchez worked previously as the U.S. Soccer Training Center Coordinator for Southern California-Inland Empire (2013-17), helping to develop technical and tactical female players ages 10-14. She has also spent time as a staff coach for the Team First Soccer Academy (2011-17), working alongside U.S. Soccer legends and former UNC teammates Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tisha Venturini-Hoch.

Sanchez's collegiate coaching career began at the University of Oregon, where she was an assistant coach from 1996-2003.

During her own standout professional career, Sanchez played at the highest level. She notched 13 caps with the United States Women's National Team, and played in the first-ever World Cup qualifying tournament in 1991. Additionally, she played for the WPSL's California Storm and Silicon Valley Red Devils, as well as the WUSA's Boston Breakers (2001-02) and San Jose Cyberrays (2003). She finished out her pro career with the Los Angeles Sol of the WPS in 2009.

As a four-year letterwinner at UNC from 1991-94, Sanchez was a part of four straight NCAA Division I National Championship and four Atlantic Coast Conference title teams that compiled a 97-1-1 combined record under legendary head coach Anson Dorrance. During her time in Chapel Hill, Sanchez totaled 32 career assists while earning a Soccer News All-American nod (1993), a pair of All-ACC selections (1991, 1994), three NCAA All-Tournament (1991, 1992, 1994) choices and three Academic All-American selections. She also registered the match-winning strikes in consecutive national championship games with goals against Duke (1992) and George Mason (1993). At UNC, Sanchez was also a part of three ACC Championship track & field teams (one indoor, two outdoor) while earning all-conference accolades in the 400m hurdles.

Sanchez was inducted into the San Jose Sports Authority Hall of Fame in 2010 and the East Side Union High School District Education Foundation Thomas P. Ryan Hall of Fame in 2012.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education with an emphasis in health and fitness from North Carolina (1995) and a Master's of Science in exercise physiology from Oregon (1999). She also holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) "B' license, a U.S. Soccer A license, and is a graduate of the NCAA Women's Coaching Academy and the NCAA Women's Coaching Academy 2.0.