Wow, big news out of William Smith with the impending retirement of Aliceann Wilber. What a career! The recent news of her assistant's departure caught my attention, but now seems less shocking. Big shoes to fill, but WS should be able to attract a worthy successor.

I'm sure there are others, but here are some updates: Minnesota-Morris job just filled by (appropriately surnamed) Emma Morris, who was Bethany Lutheran HC. A rare intra-conference head coach shift. Hardin-Simmons hired Rusty Oglesby. Cornell College hired Sarah Campbell. (Looks like first college coaching jobs for both Oglesby and Campbell.) Mississippi University for Women hired Ana Ramos. Geneva College hired Micah Fitz. Jill Leibforth, interim HC last season, was made permanent at Kalamazoo College. Kaine Baker, former assistant on the men's team, hired as women's HC at LaGrange College. Mary-Frances Monroe returns to coaching, now at Wheaton College. On the other side, Colby, Goucher, and Stevens Institute of Technology jobs are open.

Out of curiosity, I looked at the 21 D3 women's soccer head coaching changes I found for this year. The breakdown was 11 female and 10 male coaches replaced by 8 female and 13 male coaches, for a net loss of 3 women. Obviously a small sample size, and as Lauren Fleshman has eloquently pointed out (in her book "Good for a Girl" and on podcasts), there are good and bad coaches of both genders, but given the recent attention--and tension in some places--around the topic, I was a little surprised. An analysis of assistant jobs is beyond my capacity, but I do have the sense that the majority of those jobs are going to women, so one might expect head coaching ratios to shift (but I've been expecting that for some time). As Isaac Newton said, hypotheses non fingo.

Denison University: Sarah Brink replaced Gail Murphy (head coach for 26 seasons) as head coach. Brink was an assistant at Trinity College (Hartford).

https://denisonbigred.com/news/2023/4/3/womens-soccer-sarah-brink-named-denison-head-womens-soccer-coach.aspx

Going into the final slate of games on Saturday, I read the playoff situation as William Smith and Ithaca with byes; Skidmore, RIT, Clarkson, and Vassar in the playoffs with seeding to be determined. I'm not a betting man, but Skidmore-Vassar and RIT-Clarkson seems the most likely first round.

Whitney Frary goes from St. Olaf College, where she was head coach for three seasons, to Plattsburgh State.

Caitlin Pickul got the Wellesley job. She was HC at Nichols College the last two years. Springfield hired Kristin Cannon, who was AD and girls soccer coach at Poly Prep in Brooklyn.

Thrilled to see this change:

Overtime – Regular Season
Eliminate overtime during the regular season.
Rationale: To align with IFAB (FIFA) Laws of the Game, reduce playing volume for student-athletes and place value
on a tie. In data collected since 2013, 47% of overtime games are left tied at the end of the overtime periods.

Also glad the NCAA eliminated golden goal in postseason OTs, but regular season OT, particularly when you're playing back-to-back games, just seemed cruel and unnecessary.

Opposing viewpoints welcome, of course!

Colby College hires Tracey Leone.

https://nescac.com/news/2022/4/5/nescac-news-leone-named-head-coach-of-colby-womens-soccer.aspx

Also an interesting (to me, at least) assistant hire at Trinity, former Vassar HC Corey Holton.

https://bantamsports.com/news/2022/4/5/trinity-womens-soccer-adds-holton-to-coaching-staff.aspx

Also saw this last week:

Missy Price Ph.D., Wellesley College Head Soccer Coach and Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics (PERA) Assistant Professor of the Practice has stepped down from her role to accept the position of Vice President of Women's Soccer at the United Soccer League (USL). A nationwide search for Price's successor will begin immediately.