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DePaul University

Chicago, IL 60614
Illinois Midwest
Private Large Developing team
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Michele O'Brien

Michele O'Brien will enter her third season at the helm of the Blue Demon's women's soccer program in 2023, after being named head coach of the program on June 28, 2021. O'Brien assumed the position as the Blue Demon's fourth head coach in program history after serving as associate head coach since 2014. O'Brien first joined the Blue Demons staff in 2009.


O'Brien led the Blue Demons to a 7-11 record in her first year as head coach in 2021, posting a 4-6 record in BIG EAST play. O'Brien claimed her first career win on Aug. 26, 2021 in DePaul's 1-0 victory against Oakland in Rochester, Mich. O'Brien and the Blue Demons reeled in the first conference win of the season on Oct. 3 versus Villanova in a 3-2 contest at Wish Field.


The New York native was named associate head coach in May of 2014 after helping lead the Blue Demons to the BIG EAST Conference tournament in four of her five seasons at DePaul. She was instrumental in DePaul advancing to its first BIG EAST title game and in 2013 along with securing a berth in the NCAA tournament.


She helped guide the Blue Demons on a record-breaking ride in 2014 with a program-best 16-1-4 overall record that was the fifth-best winning percentage in the country. DePaul set a school record with a 20-game undefeated streak, and by the end of the regular season was one of only two programs (No. 1 UCLA) to remain unbeaten. The Blue Demons attained their highest national ranking when Soccer America ranked them at No. 7.


DePaul's high-powered attack was No. 21 in the nation in assists, No. 29 in points and No. 34 in scoring offense on the way to winning its first BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles. Seven players were named to the All-BIG EAST Team led by BIG EAST Rookie of the Year Alexa Ben and first-team selections Rachel Pitman and Elise Wyatt. Ben, Sarah Gorden, Alex Godinez and Most Outstanding Player Amber Paul were chosen for the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. DePaul advanced to its second-straight NCAA tournament, falling 2-0 at Wisconsin.


The Blue Demons led the BIG EAST in scoring offense, fewest goals allowed and goals-against average (GAA) while finishing second in assists and points. Their 130 points was the second-highest single season total in school history while the 44 goals and 42 assists were also second in program history. Head coach Erin Chastain, associate head coach Michele O'Brien and assistant coach Sarah Stanczyk were honored as the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year.


As a Blue Demon assistant coach, O'Brien successfully recruited standout Ashleigh Goddard and 2013 All-BIG EAST Third Team defender Rachel Pitman from England.


O'Brien joined the women's soccer program on Feb. 16, 2009 as an assistant coach and brought along elite-level playing and coaching experience to the sidelines of Wish Field as a member of Ireland's National Team since 2003. O'Brien helped lead Team Ireland to the 2011 European Championships. Ireland has been ranked 27th in the FIFA World Rankings out of 116 national teams from around the globe.


In addition to her national team experience with Ireland, O'Brien played seven seasons in the United Soccer Leagues W-League and played with the United Kingdom for the Arsenal Ladies Football Club. Arsenal, the most successful team in the U.K., competed in world-class events such as the European Cup and FA Cup.


In the USL, she played for the Long Island Rough Riders and with the New Jersey Sky Blue. O'Brien retired from competitive soccer in 2012 after playing internationally for 10 seasons.


O'Brien served as an assistant coach at Columbia University from 2005-07 and was an assistant at New York University from 2004-05. She played collegiately at Florida International University from 1998-2001 where she was a two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. She also earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors twice and was a two-time All-Sun Belt Tournament selection. O'Brien graduated as FIU's all-time leader in shots (288), goals (58) and points (134) and is second in program history in assists (18).


O’Brien and her husband Blair Banwart, who works for the DePaul Athletics facilities department, have a daughter, Addison, and son, Wyatt.

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Rachel Pitman

Rachel Pitman enters her fifth year as the assistant coach with the Blue Demons women’s soccer program. Pitman was promoted to her current position as Associate Head Coach, in May 2023.


The former All-BIG EAST and All-Northeast Region defender returned to Lincoln Park in August 2018 to coach her alma mater.


Pitman began her stellar Wish Field playing career in 2011, coming to Chicago from England. She helped lead DePaul to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in 2013 and 2014.


In 2014, Pitman & Co. set a program record going 16-1-4, and the team’s 20-match unbeaten streak was the longest in the nation along with UCLA.


That season, head coach Erin Chastain’s team won both the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles.


Pitman was selected to the All-BIG EAST First Team as a senior and was NSCAA All-Northeast Region Second Team. She was also named to the Capital One Academic All-America First Team and was a four-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team selection.


Competing on England’s U-17 and U-23 national teams, Pitman scored five goals and helped lead the English to the U-17 World Cup Semifinals. She has also played with England’s U-15 and U-17 teams.


The talented and scrappy Blue Demon has played professionally for three years (2015-18) with the Sunderland Ladies AFC club in Sunderland, England and made four appearances in the Champions League.


Pitman is an FA Level 1 and Level 2 qualified soccer coach and one of 50 female coaches selected for the UEFA B license as part of the BetFair campaign.

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Peter McKeown

Peter McKeown officially joined the DePaul women’s soccer staff in August of 2023. McKeown comes to Lincoln Park with over a decade of training experience, he most recently served as the former St. Thomas assistant coach.


During his time at St. Thomas, McKeown served as the goalkeeper coach, leading goalkeeper development and training through the fall and the spring during the University’s first two seasons as a D1 program.


McKeown makes the trek back to Chicago after graduating from Loyola-Chicago In 2012 where he served as the team’s 4-year starting goalkeeper. During his time at Loyola, McKeown was named the MVP of 2011 Horizon League Championship and aided in his team’s NCAA appearance.


After he graduated from Loyola, McKeown went on to play soccer for Chicago Inferno where he was the starting goalkeeper for half the season until he was injured. McKeown went on to coach a multitude of levels and programs including high school and club before joining the St. Thomas staff.

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Mark Plotkin

Mark Plotkin will begin his sixth season at the helm of the DePaul men's soccer program in the fall of 2023.


The former Blue Demon returned to lead his alma mater as the seventh head coach in program history on Dec. 21, 2017 after serving on staff at Colgate University for four seasons.


Over his five seasons at the helm in Lincoln Park thus far, the Blue Demons have totaled a 23-36-18 overall record. Plotkin and Co. assembled the best season of his tenure during the fall of 2021, posting a 7-7-3 record and a 3-4-3 clip in conference action. The seven wins and three BIG EAST victories were both career-bests for Plotkin in Lincoln Park as head coach.


During non-conference action in 2021, the Blue Demons assembled a 4-3 record while rattling off three straight wins for the first time since 2009. Plotkin's squad picked up a win over Bradley for the first time since 1990 and also went on the road to defeat the Wisconsin Badgers, 1-0. In conference play, the Blue Demons collected wins versus UConn, Creighton and at Villanova. By the team the campaign had wrapped up, DePaul totaled its most wins in a season since 2016.


In a COVID-shortened season during the 2020-21 school year, Plotkin's squad assembled a 2-5-2 record while claiming conference wins over Xavier and Creighton. The victory at Wish Field over Creighton on March 13, 2021 was the first in program history over the Bluejays.


During his first season back in the fall of 2018, Plotkin secured his first career victory as head coach against then-No. 14 ranked Western Michigan and finished out the season with a 5-9-3 record, including a 2-1 double OT win over BIG EAST foe Providence and a 1-0 defeat of Xavier.


In addition to being a four-year starter at Wish Field during his playing career, Plotkin also served as an assistant coach during the 2012 and 2013 seasons for DePaul. During his playing career, Plotkin helped the Blue Demons to four consecutive appearances in the BIG EAST Championship tournament, including semifinal appearances in 2007 and 2008. Plotkin was a driving force behind DePaul winning the BIG EAST Red Division title and earning the first program appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2007. He finished his career in 2009 tied for fifth all-time in games started with 74.


Plotkin came to DePaul after serving on Colgate’s coaching staff for the last four seasons. He was an assistant coach from 2014-16 before being promoted to the associate head coach prior to the 2017 season.


At Colgate, Plotkin helped guide the Raiders to the 2015 regular season and the last two Patriot League tournament championships during his tenure on the Colgate coaching staff. Colgate captured the 2017 Patriot League Championship before advancing to the third round of the NCAA Championship. The 2017 campaign for the Raiders was the most successful in school history as Colgate won its first NCAA Tournament game before reaching the Sweet 16 with a 3-2 win over No. 13 Michigan in the second round.


Prior to his coaching tenure at DePaul, Plotkin spent two years as Director of Operations at Northwestern. During his time in Evanston, he facilitated game-day set-up for home games, assisted with organization of travel arrangements, aided in the production of video analysis/scouting and directed the program’s fundraising efforts.


The 2010 DePaul graduate earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing and is currently working on completing his master’s degree in sports administration from Northwestern.


Mark and his wife, the former Christen Baillie, who is also a DePaul graduate of 2010, reside in Chicago with their daughter Zoe.

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Tyler Keever

Tyler Keever was promoted to associate head coach in February of 2022 after beginning his tenure as an assistant coach with DePaul men's soccer in January 2018.


As an assistant coach at DePaul, Keever has established a reputation of success in working with the Blue Demon goalkeeper group. Drew Nuelle, who joined the program for Keever's first season in 2018, was fixture at the position. The Indiana transfer started 43 matches in net over three seasons in Lincoln Park.


In 2021, Keever led redshirt freshman goalkeeper Gandhi Cruz to a spectacular season. The Aurora, Ill. native made 76 saves which ranked 17th in the nation. Cruz was named to the All-BIG EAST Third Team and earned three BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll awards.


Prior to DePaul, Keever spent two seasons at Colgate where he assisted the Raiders in goalkeeper training, opponent scouting, video editing, on-and-off campus recruiting, individual player development, and day-to-day operations. He helped guide Colgate to its sixth-ever Patriot League Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance during his first season with the Raiders in 2016.


He mentored the Colgate goalkeepers that secured nine shutouts on the season, good for a shutout percentage of 0.41 that finished the season ranked 37th in all of Division I. The Raiders went 13-7-2 overall in 2016, tying a program record for wins in a single season. In 2017, Keever mentored a squad that made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament after winning a seventh-ever Patriot League title, finishing with a 12-11-1 record, where the coaches were named the Northeast Region Staff of the Year.


Keever previously had a short stint as the first assistant at DePauw where he coordinated the program's recruiting efforts and provided video analysis for players postgame. He also assisted in the daily administrative operations of the program, including practice plans and training sessions.


Prior to that, Keever was the second assistant and goalkeeper coach for his alma mater, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). During the 2013 season he helped with the team's travel arrangements, recruitment, and training sessions.


The four-year letterwinner played in 61 games for IUPUI, earning 59 starts. During his senior campaign, he was voted Second Team All-Summit League after ranking second in conference in saves (76), shutouts (6) and shutouts per game (0.33), third in goals against average (1.25), and fourth in save percentage (.768).


Throughout his soccer coaching career, Keever has worked with numerous club soccer organizations such as Westside Soccer Club (Avon, Ind.). During his five years with the club he served as the 1995, 2000, 1999 and 2004 boys head coach. Keever was also the Director of Training at the Indiana Goalkeeper Academy. Keever has been linked to numerous camps as well, including ones at DePauw, IUPUI, Butler and Indiana.


He earned his bachelor's degree in sports management with a minor in business in 2012. Keever also has a USSF Youth National, USSF National C, and NSCAA National licenses.

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Martin Alba

Assistant Coach

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Michael Choquette

Michael Coquette joined the Blue Demons program in the spring of 2022. Choquette is in his second year at the Chicago Fire Academy after serving two years at club affiliate Chicago Fire Juniors City and three years as an assistant at the University of Chicago. Before that, he was coaching in Connecticut at Oakwood SC, the same club he played at growing up. He enjoyed multiple roles with the club, as staff coach for multiple Zone 1 teams and manager for facilities, shop, and social media. Choquette played collegiately at UChicago, graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He is currently is pursuing a USSF B-License.

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