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Elmira College

Elmira, NY 14901
New York Northeast
Private Small Developing team
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Coaches

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Bill Kelly

Bill Kelly enters his second season leading the women's soccer program during the 2023-24 academic year. Kelly became the 15th head coach in program history after taking over on April 11, 2022.


During the 2022 season, Kelly helped lead the Soaring Eagles to a 6-9-2 record, including its first Empire 8 Conference win since the 2015 season when defeating Keuka 1-0 at Campus Field on October 22. Elmira's six wins was three greater than the season prior, and the most for the Soaring Eagles since the 2014 season.


Kelly comes to Elmira with an overall coaching record in Division III women's soccer of 183-157-27 throughout 20 seasons. After a seven-year stint with Saint Benedict in Saint Joseph, Minnesota, Kelly most recently coached at Bard College for 13 seasons. After his resignation in December of 2020, Kelly has spent the last 16 months as a consultant for Athletics Recruitment Consulting, LLC in Delmar, New York, a suburb of Albany.


During his time at Bard, Kelly's teams twice finished second and third in the Skyline Conference and made four postseason appearances in the ECAC Tournament. He was named Skyline Conference Coach of the Year in 2019, and in 2015, Bard won the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year Award.


Before arriving at Bard, Kelly coached the nationally-ranked Division III women's soccer program at The College of St. Benedict in Minnesota. He led his teams to the NCAA playoffs three times, including a finish in the "Sweet Sixteen". In 2002, he was named the MIAC Coach of the Year and the Division III Central Region Coach of the Year.


Kelly offers more than an ability to put winning soccer teams on the field as he is also a published writer, who earned his M.A. in English and Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota, where he won an Academy of American Poets Prize. His poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines across the country, and he has authored children's stories for SPIDER magazine, HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN, and others. In 2015, he signed with WordTech Communication LLC to have his collection of poetry, Water Tiger, published.


Kelly is also an accomplished painter as his work has been shown and sold in Minneapolis, Albany, and Boston. A former college English instructor, he enjoys providing academic support for his athletes.


Kelly graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was a four-year letter winner for the Scots as a goalkeeper and midfielder. For many years he played club soccer with the Dundees of F.C. Scotia in St. Paul, Minnesota.


He and his wife, Vera, who is a Political Science professor at Siena College, currently reside in Delmar, New York.

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Ashley Boyd

Ashley Boyd enters her first season as the Assistant Coach for the Elmira College women’s soccer team during the 2023-24 academic year.


Hailing from Erie, Pennsylvania, Boyd brings a wealth of experience, most recently as Assistant Girls Soccer Coach and Goalkeeper Trainer at Avon High School in Avon, Indiana, where she helped lead the program to two sectional titles and berths in the regional final for the IHSAA. In addition, she coached several girls teams with the Westside United Soccer Club from 2018 to 2020.


Previously, Boyd was a Goalkeeper Trainer in the Erie, PA area at McDowell High School, Ignite Goalkeeping, and the MSA Soccer Club. McDowell claimed the District 10 championship and reached the state playoffs each year during Boyd’s tenure there, from 2014 to 2017.


Boyd earned her MA in Sports Psychology at Lock Haven University in 2015. She graduated from Gannon University in 2014 with a BA in Psychology. A standout goalkeeper at McDowell High School, Boyd led her team to the PIAA state championships where they finished as runners up.

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Lamine Balde

Lamine Balde enters his third season as the head coach of the Elmira College men’s soccer program in 2023-24.


In 2021, for just the second time in the past nine seasons, Balde led the Soaring Eagles to nine wins in his inaugural season as head coach. Balde mentored four all-conference selections during the campaign. Junior midfielder Lutho Mlunguza ‘23 was selected to the Empire 8 Conference Second Team after scoring eight goals and three assists. Seniors Gavin Wise ‘22 and Junior Coulibaly ‘22, as well as junior Moustapha Camara ‘23 all earned Third Team honors.


Balde joined the Soaring Eagles after helping the Washington & Jefferson College men’s soccer program win back-to-back Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) championships in the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2021. During his two seasons as an assistant coach under six-time PAC Coach of the Year Ian McDonald, W&J boasted a 20-10-3 overall record and went 13-2-1 against PAC opponents.


With Balde on the sidelines, the Washington & Jefferson offense flourished. The 2019 squad set a program record and tied for 30th in Division III with 53 goals. The Presidents scored a PAC-leading 2.41 goals per game that season, and while playing an abbreviated 2021 schedule, W&J’s offense was second in the conference with an average of 2.64 goals per game.


In two years with the Presidents, Balde mentored 16 All-PAC selections, including two Newcomer of the Year honorees and the 2021 Player of the Year. Washington & Jefferson’s team also experienced tremendous success in the classroom, as evidenced by the program’s four CoSIDA Academic All-District award winners.


In January of 2021, Balde was chosen to participate in the 2021 NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar. Held virtually this winter, the Emerging Leaders Seminar educates, develops, and connects selected participants and equips attending young professionals with the skills necessary to accelerate their career progression in college sports.


Balde’s collegiate coaching experience began at his alma mater, Bethany College – a fellow PAC member – as an assistant during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. As a player, he was a two-time All-PAC performer and collected 64 points (26g-12a) in four seasons with the Bison. During his senior campaign in 2013, he ranked second in the conference in points (24) and third in goals (9).


After graduating from Bethany, Balde extended his playing career with the Fort Pitt Regiment in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). He led Fort Pitt in scoring in two of his three years with the Regiment. He also competed with the Indy Eleven, where he trained with the United Soccer League (USL) first team squad in 2017. Most recently, Balde suited up for the Pittsburgh Hotspurs during the organization's inaugural NPSL season in 2019.


Originally from the West African country of Guinea, Balde earned two degrees from Bethany. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management in 2015 and earned a Master of Arts in Teaching in 2017.

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Junior Coulibaly

Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator

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