Coaching Staff
Rob Donnenwirth Head Coach W.Va. Wesleyan ( 88) Rob Donnenwirth enters his 14th season as the head coach of the women s soccer program at East Carolina University. He has guided the Pirates to seven 10-plus win seasons in 13 years, mentored 72 all-conference performers, four academic all-americans and his 127 victories makes him the winningest coach in school history. In 2011, Donnenwirth led ECU back to post-season play after a two-year hiatus finishing fifth in the Conference USA regular season standings. The Pirates earned their first ever victory over UCF in the first round of the C-USA Championships defeating the Knights 2-1, who advanced to the Elite Eight in NCAA postseason play. Their season came to an end following a 3-0 loss in the second round to eventual champion No. 6 Memphis ending with an 11-8-1 overall record. The 2008 season was Donnenwirth s most successful as he led ECU to the best overall record in program history at 14-4-4 and a share of the C-USA Regular Season Championship. That year the Pirates finished the C-USA season with a 7-0-4 mark, good for the first unbeaten run through league play since Charlotte went 8-0-2 in 2002. East Carolina played in its first C-USA Championship game in 2008, but fell to Memphis, 4-1, and narrowly missed out on making the program s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. For his efforts, Donnenwirth received his first C-USA Coach-ofthe-Year award and was the Soccer Buzz Southeast Region Coachof-the-Year runner-up. Donnenwirth s Coaching Record Year School Record.Pct Championships/Postseason 1994 N.C. Wesleyan 15-3-3.786 Dixie Conference Champions NCAA South Regional Champions National Semifinalist 1995 N.C. Wesleyan 6-11.353 1996 N.C. Wesleyan 15-3-2.825 Dixie Conference Champions NCAA Tournament 1997 N.C. Wesleyan 15-4-2.761 Dixie Conference Champions NCAA Tournament 1998 N.C. Wesleyan 11-5-2.667 Dixie Conference Champions Totals 62-26-9.686 1999 East Carolina 11-5-1.676 2000 East Carolina 10-7-2.578 2001 East Carolina 10-8-1.553 2002 East Carolina 11-6-4.619 2003 East Carolina 7-7-5.500 2004 East Carolina 8-9-2.450 2005 East Carolina 8-12-1.405 2006 East Carolina 10-8-2.550 2007 East Carolina 9-5-5.605 2008 East Carolina 14-4-4.700 Conference USA Regular Season Co-Champions 2009 East Carolina 9-7-3.553 2010 East Carolina 9-9-1.500 2011 East Carolina 11-8-1.575 Totals 127-95-32.563 CAREER 189-121-41.597 2012 pirate 14 soccer The conclusion of the 2008 campaign also saw a Pirate agree to the first United States professional contract in program history as Madison Keller signed with the Washington Freedom of the Women s Professional Soccer (WPS) league. In all, three Pirates have signed professional contracts under Donnenwirth s tenure with the Pirates: Amanda Duffy (Sweden 06), Keller and Kimmy Cummings (Ireland, 12). Prior to arriving at ECU, Donnenwirth spent five years as the head coach at North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, N.C. Under his guidance, the Battling Bishops enjoyed tremendous success, going 62-27-9, winning four Dixie Conference titles and making three trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament. In Donnenwirth s first year as the Bishops as head coach, the team advanced to the NCAA Final Four and finished with a 15-3- 3 record. Chris Webb and Trish Parker, former ECU assistant coaches, were a part of that squad and Parker was named the Division III National Player-of-the-Year. In his tenure at N.C. Wesleyan, three Bishop players were named All-Americans, two were chosen Dixie Conference Playersof-the-Year and three were picked as the conference s Rookie-ofthe-Year. Donnenwirth was also recognized several times while at N.C. Wesleyan, earning NCAA South Regional Coach-of-the-Year twice and the Dixie Conference Coach-of-the-Year three times. Before heading to N.C. Wesleyan, Donnenwirth served as an assistant with the James Madison men s and women s teams and the University of Massachusetts men s squad. Outside the college ranks, Donnenwirth has a wealth of experience in Olympic Development Programs (ODP). He has been part of the United States Region III ODP coaching staff and has served eight years as a North Carolina ODP coach with the under-13 and under-15 girls teams. He was formerly the director of the Pitt Greenville Soccer Association s traveling and recreational programs and is currently president of Soccer Express, a community soccer camp business that has attracted over 3,000 youth and adult campers in the U.S. and Canada. As a player, Donnenwirth guided West Virginia Wesleyan College to back-toback NAIA National Championships in 1984 and 1985 and was named a NAIA Honorable Mention All-American in 1987 as a goalkeeper. He earned a B.S. in marketing from West Virginia Wesleyan in 1988 and his M.B.A. from James Madison in 1990. Donnenwirth and his wife, Rosy, have three daughters: Allison (18), Madison (14) and Carly (12).
The Donnnenwirth File Coaching Experience 1999-Present Head Women s Soccer Coach, East Carolina University 1994-99 Head Women s Soccer Coach, North Carolina Wesleyan College 1992-93 Assistant Men s Soccer Coach, University of Massachusetts 1990 Assistant Women s Soccer Coach, James Madison University 1988-90 Assistant Men s Soccer Coach, James Madison University ODP Coaching Experience 2007-09 Under-14 North Carolina ODP team 2002-08 Member of the Region III Coaching Staff 1999-2003 Under-15 North Carolina ODP Team 1994-1999 Under-13 North Carolina ODP Team Coaching Education United States Soccer Federation A License Coach Team Achievements 1 Conference USA Championship 1 NCAA Div. III Final Four Appearance 1 NCAA South Regional Championship 1 Div. III National Player-of-the-Year 3 NCAA Tournament Appearances 3 Players named All-American 3 Rookie-of-the-Year selections 4 Conference Players-of-the-Year 4 Dixie Conference titles 72 Players named All-Conference Coaching Awards 1994, 1996, 1998 Dixie Conference Coach-of-the-Year 2008 Conference USA Coach-of-the-Year 1994, 1996 NCAA South Region Coach-of-the-Year Playing Experience NAIA National Championships 1984, 1985 NAIA All-America 1987 Personal Born December 20, 1965 Hometown Edison, N.J. College B.S. in marketing, W.Va. Wesleyan ( 88) M.B.A., James Madison ( 90) 2012 pirate 15 soccer
Shannon Lewis Assistant Coach N.C. Wesleyan 01 Shannon Lewis, who has been coaching collegiate soccer for over 10 years, enters her eighth season in the Pirate program as an assistant coach. As an assistant, her primary duties include day-to-day coaching, handling recruiting tasks and monitoring student-athletes academics. Under her direction, the 2010 Pirates received their seventh-straight National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Team Academic Award and 10th in the last 14 seasons. To qualify for the academic award, teams were required to average at least a 3.0 GPA for the fall and spring semesters. The Pirates easily surpassed that standard, turning in a cumulative team mark of 3.24 in 2010. Since 2005, Lewis first with the Pirates, she has mentored three NSCAA All-South Region selections (Meghan McCallion, Kat Norris/twice and Madison Keller), nine all-conference players and six all-freshman team honorees. A native of Newtown, Pa., Lewis served as a graduate assistant coach at Marshall from 2003-05, when she was involved in all facets of the program. In her two seasons with the Herd, she had direct involvement in coaching Ashleigh Woods, a 2003 First-Team All-Mid American Conference selection, as well as 2004 All-MAC Freshman Team honoree Kassie Hollman. Prior to working at Marshall, Lewis served one year (2002-03) as an assistant coach at her alma mater, N.C. Wesleyan. Lewis was a four-year starter, four-time Dixie Conference First Team and Scholar Athlete selection, three-time regional All-American and three-time captain for the Bishops. She guided N.C. Wesleyan to three NCAA Tournament appearances (1999-2001), four Dixie Conference titles, one tournament championship (2001) and the 1999 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship and subsequent Elite Eight appearance. As a freshman in 1998, she was named Dixie Conference Rookie-of-the-Year under the direction of Rob Donnenwirth. Away from the university setting, Lewis has spent two years (2009-10) as an assistant coach with the North Carolina Olympic Development Program (NC ODP). She has also coached the West Virginia Rowdies (U-13 and U-11), Rocky Mount Raiders (U-12), Greenville s U-10 boys team and the Pitt-Greenville Soccer Association s Academy Girls teams. In addition, she has assisted with numerous clinics around the Pitt-Greenville area. A 2001 graduate of N.C. Wesleyan with a B.A. in English, Lewis completed her master s degree in journalism and mass communications from Marshall in May of 2005. In May of 2008, the former Shannon St. George married ECU Head Equipment Manager Erik Lewis. The couple currently resides in Greenville, N.C. and are expecting their first child in the Fall of 2012. The Lewis File Education: 2001 B.A. in English, N.C. Wesleyan 2005 MA. in communications, Marshall University Coaching Experience 2005-Present Assistant Coach, East Carolina University 2003-05 Graduate Assistant Coach, Marshall University 2002-03 Assistant Coach, North Carolina Wesleyan College Coaching Education NSCAA National Coaching License United States Soccer Federation D License Coach Playing Experience/Achievements 1998 Dixie Conference Rookie-of-the-Year 1999 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship 1999 NCAA Elite Eight Appearance 1999-2001 Three NCAA Tournament Appearances 1998-2001 Four Dixie Conference Championships 2001 Dixie Conference Tournament Champions 1998-2001 Four-time Dixie Conference First Team Selection 1999-2001 Three-time Regional All-America Selection 1999-2001 Three-time team captain Personal Data Full Name: Shannon Lewis Hometown: Newtown, Pa. Born: July 29, 1980 2012 pirate 16 soccer
Allison Lipsher Assistant Coach Duke 08 Former Duke Blue Devil standout and Women s Professional Soccer (WPS) player Allison Lipsher enters her first season as an assistant coach at East Carolina University, a position she accepted in July of 2012. Lipsher has spent three years on soccer s biggest stage playing for the Boston Breakers (2009-10) and Atlanta Beat (2011) in the WPS. While with the Breakers, she played in 11 games, starting in 10 and led all goalkeepers in minutes played with 928 allowing six goals in 11 games and recorded a league fourth-best five shutouts. In Atlanta, Lipsher started seven games, collected 47 saves and had one shutout. In 2012 she secured a roster spot in the Women s Professional Soccer League (WPSL) Elite with the Western New York (WNY) Flash playing alongside US National Team members Megan Klinginberg and Lori Lindsey, where they captured the 2012 league title. Following a stellar career at Duke, she led Ajax America to the 2008 WPSL National Championship where she was named to the WPSL All-Tournament Team. Lipsher also played professionally for the New Castle Jets (2010-11) and Sydney FC (2011-12) of the Australia Women s League. Prior to her appointment at ECU, Lipsher served as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona where she worked with the goalkeepers and mentored 2011 Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention goalie Ashley Jett, who started 19 games in goal and recorded a pair of shutouts against Texas Tech and Oregon during her senior season. A graduate of Duke University, Lipsher played four seasons for the Blue Devils, where she played from 2004-07. She finished her career ranked second on Duke and fourth on the ACC career charts in shutouts (33). Her career 0.87 goals against average and 265 saves ranked first and second, respectively. As a freshman, Lipsher was named an ACC All-Freshman and Soccer Buzz All-Southeast Region All-Freshman selection in 2004. By her senior year, she set the Blue Devil record with 603:33 straight minutes without allowing a goal during the 2007 season, when she helped lead the team to an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA tournament. In 2010, Lipsher volunteered at Tufts University where she oversaw work with the goalkeepers prior to becoming a member of the Wildcats staff in 2011. Brian Akers Volunteer Coach UNC Wilmington 10 Brian Akers enters his second year as the volunteer soccer coach at East Carolina assisting head coach Rob Donnenwirth in a variety of facets. In 2011 he assisted with the organizing and running of training sessions, game strategy and video editing, which was used for player evaluation and scouting for upcoming opponents. He joined the Pirates after spending 2010 working as an Associate Staff instructor with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). While at the NSCAA, Akers was selected to lead and instruct coaching education courses for the Coaching Academy, which is one of the leading organizations for coaching certification. His coaching licenses include the NSCAA Premier Diploma, Advanced National Diploma and National Diploma. A 2010 graduate from UNC Wilmington with a degree in criminology and criminal justice, Akers spent eight years (2001-08) in the United States Army rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant where he was deployed to combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom before returning to the pitch in 2008 as an assistant women s coach at Jacksonville High School. With the Cardinals, he organized practices and provided match analysis and feedback to both players and coaches. Prior to joining the U.S. Army, Akers worked with as a student assistant coach at UNC Greensboro (1995-97), where he helped the Spartans to a pair of NCAA tournament berths, including their first in program history in 1996. He was also played an integral part in helping UNC Greensboro claim three regular season titles (Big South-2, Southern-1) and two conference tournament crowns (Big South-1, Southern-1). Akers is currently working on a Masters of Arts degree in sociology at East Carolina. 2012 pirate 17 soccer
Support Staff Carlester Crumpler Academic Coordinator Carlester Crumpler has been a part of ECU Athletics for four decades. He joined the Pirate family in 1970 as a running back from Fike High School in Wilson, N.C. Crumpler works directly with the soccer team as well as the men and women s cross country and track and field squads. Crumpler was one of the finest running backs ever to don an ECU uniform. He set countless records during his playing days, including most 100-yard rushing games in a season (9), rushing touchdowns in a season (17) and career (37). He concluded his career as the Pirates all-time leading rusher with 2,889 yards. He received All-America honorable mention accolades in 1972 and 73 and was voted Southern Conference Athlete-of-the-Year in 1972. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1974 and played professionally until 1977. Following his professional playing career, Crumpler spent time in broadcasting and private business before returning to his alma mater in 1988 as an administrator. He was also selected that year to be the color analyst on the Pirate Sports Network, a position held for 18 seasons. Crumpler has worked in numerous departments during his 22 years an athletic administrator. He and his wife Danita, reside in Greenville with their daughter, A riana. He also has three sons, Carlester Crumpler, Jr., Alge and Bryan. Both Carlester Jr. and Alge played professional football. He was enshrined into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1980 and into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. Tracy Yoshikawa Assistant Athletic Trainer Tracy Yoshikawa enters her first year as an Assistant Athletic Trainer for East Carolina. Her primary responsibility will be working with women s soccer in 2012. She spent two years working as a graduate assistant for ECU, covering the men s and women s cross country, swimming & diving and track & field programs before accepting a full-time position. Prior to joining the Pirate athletic program, Yoshikawa earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in athletic training from Albion College in 2000. While earning her degree, she was a student trainer for the men s lacrosse, baseball and junior varsity football teams. While at Albion College, Yoshikawa was a four-year letterwinner and two-time team captain for the women s soccer program that captured a pair of MIAA tournament titles (2008-09) and advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2009. During her career, she scored four goals (two game-winning), had six assists and collected 14 points in 74 games. In the classroom she was a four-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll member in both soccer and athletic training and received the Albion College Yoshi Mentor-of-the-Year Award and Charlotte Duff Athletic Training Student-of-the-Year Award during her senior year. Yoshikawa is a licensed athletic trainer in North Carolina as well as a certified member of the National Athletic Trainer s Association. She completed her master s degree in exercise and sport science with a concentration in sport management from East Carolina in May of 2012. The Kalamazoo, Mich., native is the daughter of David and Ruth Yoshikawa. Rosie Thompson Associate Athletics Director/SWA Rosie Thompson is in her 18th year as Senior Woman Administrator and fifth as Associate Athletics Director for her alma mater. A 1979 graduate of East Carolina, Thompson has a long association with ECU, where she is a member of the Athletics Hall of Fame. She is still the women s basketball program s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Following her collegiate career, Thompson played one year professionally with the St. Louis Streak, served as a graduate assistant for the ECU women s program and coached women s basketball and track at Northern Nash High School in Rocky Mount, N.C., from 1982-84. Thompson went on to serve as Assistant Director of Admissions at ECU from 1984-87. During that time, she received her master s degree from the University in 1985. In 1987, Thompson returned to the court as assistant coach for the ECU women s program. In 1992, Thompson was elevated to head coach, just the fifth in ECU women s basketball history, a position she held until spring of 1995, when she resigned to become ECU s Senior Woman Administrator. 2012 pirate 18 soccer