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Metropolitan State Univ/Denver

Denver, CO 80217
Colorado Southwest
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Kat Mertz

Veteran NCAA Division I head coach and assistant Kat Mertz was named head coach of the MSU Denver women’s soccer program on May 14, 2021, and immediately produced the Roadrunners' best two-season stretch since 2014-15.


Mertz guided the Roadrunners to a 12-4-4 overall finish in 2022, posting the program's highest win total and best regular-season Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record (7-2-3) since 2014, the last time MSU Denver reached the NCAA Division II Tournament. MSU Denver posted a second straight unbeaten home season with Mertz in charge -- the Roadrunners are 14-0-5 at the Assembly Athletic Complex under Mertz. MSU Denver had an 0.64 goals-against average that led the RMAC and had 12 shutouts. Jaimy Sawaged put together an outstanding senior season, scoring nine goals while earning All-RMAC first team and D2CCA All-South Central Region scond team honors. Defender Elli Zimmer earned the same accolades, while midfielder Luna Garcia was named to the All-RMAC first team and defender Emily Sirois made the All-RMAC second team.


MSU Denver finished 10-6-2 overall in 2021, including 7-5 in RMAC play. That mark was good for the seventh seed in the tournament, though the Roadrunners' total of 21 points was closer to first place (30) than it was to eighth (11). MSU Denver had an incredibly difficult road schedule in league play, facing five of the top six teams away from home. They lost all five of those matchups, though by a total of only six goals, before losing at 10th-ranked UCCS 1-0 in the first round of the RMAC Tournament. The Roadrunners allowed only 12 goals in 18 games all season, and their 0.65 goals-against average was the program's best since 2014 and was the 10th-best in program history. Veteran defender Jordan Lewis and midfielder closed out their careers by earning All-South Central Region second team and All-RMAC first team honors. Zimmer and true freshman goalkeeper Kayla Caballero earned All-RMAC second team honors, and defender Kate Giordano was a CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 selection.


Before joining MSU Denver, Mertz had been an assistant coach at Oklahoma since January, 2020, after previous stints as a head coach at Oregon, Saint Louis and UNLV. She participated in nine NCAA Tournaments as a coach while compiling a record of 102-122-36.


She also has 12 years of experience coaching in the U.S. Women’s National Team program.


While coaching Oregon from 2013 through 2019 led the Ducks to program-high No. 14 RPI ranking during the 2018 season and to a 47-74-13 overall record, including 30-39-8 over her last four seasons.


She was the head coach at Saint Louis for the 2012 season, leading the Billikens to a 5-9-3 record, before taking the head coaching position at Oregon.


Prior to Saint Louis, Mertz was an assistant coach at Texas in 2010 and 2011, helping the Longhorns to the NCAA Tournament both seasons.


While head coach at UNLV from 2005 through 2009, Mertz compiled a 50-39-19 record and led the Rebels to NCAA Tournament berths in 2005 and 2006 after winning Mountain West Conference Tournament titles. She was also named Mountain West Coach of the Year after leading the Rebels to the regular season league crown in 2007.


In 2005 — Mertz's first season as head coach — UNLV set school records for wins and fewest goals allowed. The program earned its first national ranking in 2008. Mertz coached 17 all-conference performers at UNLV, including MWC Co-Offensive Player of the Year and three all-region honorees.


She was an assistant coach at UCLA from 2000 through 2004, helping the Bruins reach the round of 16 in each of her five seasons, including NCAA College Cup appearances in 2000, 2003 and 2004. UCLA won three Pacific-10 Conference championships during her stay there.


She was an assistant coach at Virginia in 1999.


A member of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s U-20, U-19 or U-18 coaching staffs from 2007 to 2016, Mertz helped lead the U-20 squad to the 2008 FIFA World Cup title. She was also an assistant coach for the U-15 team in its inaugural season in 2004.


Mertz served as head coach of the Olympic Development Program Region IV '94 age group team and was the ODP Region IV assistant director of goalkeeping from 2004 to 2010.


As a player, Mertz was a goalkeeper at North Carolina State from 1994 through 1997, where she helped the Wolfpack qualify for three NCAA Tournaments and reach the 1995 national quarterfinals. She started 88 of a possible 90 matches and set school records for saves in a career (436) and a season (135 in 1994) while posting 24 career shutouts.


Following her collegiate career, Mertz played two seasons for the Raleigh Wings, a W-1 (top tier) team in the United Soccer League's W-League.


Mertz earned a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State in natural resources, ecosystem assessment in 1998. She holds a United States Soccer Federation "A" national coaching license and a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Advanced National Diploma. She is also a member of WeCOACH, an organization dedicated to the recruitment, advancement and retention of women coaches of all sports and levels.


Mertz and her wife Erica have a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Blake.

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Nick Kirchhof

Nick Kirchhof, a national champion as a player and a two-time national champion as an assistant coach, was named the men's soccer head coach at MSU Denver on Dec. 28, 2020, and he immediately began charting a course to lead MSU Denver back to the top of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.


Progress continued in 2022, as the Roadrunners posted just their second 10-win season since 2016, going 10-6-2 overall while finishing a highly-competitive 4-5-1 in the RMAC. Forward Aidan Bates earned All-RMAC second team accolades, while goalkeeper Ross Miller and midfielder Adan Perez each earned All-RMAC honorable mention. Miller was a three-time RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week.


Kirchhof led the Roadrunners to a 4-0-1 finish in the final five games of the regular season in 2021, as the team qualified for the RMAC Tournament for the first time since 2018. The Roadrunners were 8-9-2 overall and 5-4-1 in the RMAC, good for fifth place. Transfer forward Bates earned All-RMAC first team recognition, and both Bates and defender Bryson Chiles made the D2CCA All-South Central Region second team. Chiles was an All-RMAC second team selection, while forward Aaron Biggerstaff earned All-RMAC honorable mention. Chiles also earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 recognition.


Inheriting a freshman-heavy team just two months before the season was scheduled to start, Kirchhof guided the Roadrunners to a 2-5 record, including 2-4 in RMAC play, as the 2020-21 season took place in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. True freshman Perez earned All-RMAC honorable mention recognition, and true freshman Biggerstaff led the team with two goals in the seven-game season. The Roadrunners' top seven field players in terms of minutes played were all true freshmen.


Kirchhof spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford, helping the Cardinal to national titles in both 2015 and 2016. As a player, Kirchhof got plenty of experience with the RMAC during his four-year career at Fort Lewis, where he played in two Division II national championship games, including a victory in 2005.


While with the Cardinal, Kirchhof played an integral role in Stanford's rise among the nation's elite while on the staff of his former college coach, Jeremy Gunn. Stanford won the program's first of three straight national championships in 2015 when the Cardinal routed Clemson, 4-0. Stanford repeated as champions in 2016, defeating Wake Forest 0-0 (PKs 5-4).


In the 2016 NCAA tournament, the Cardinal did not concede a goal. The program also won three straight PAC-12 Men's Soccer Championships and appeared in four NCAA tournaments.


Kirchhof helped develop numerous All-Americans, a Hermann Trophy winner, two MLS Rookie of the Year award winners, multiple MLS homegrown signees, MLS Superdraft picks, an MLS Cup Champion and three US Men's National Team.


The Cardinal went 65-23-16 (.702) with Kirchhof on staff, including a 46-8-11 (.792) combined mark in his final three seasons. On the heels of Stanford's first national championship, Jordan Morris became the first MAC Hermann Trophy winner in program history and signed the most anticipated Homegrown Player contract in MLS history when he signed with the Seattle Sounders.


Before joining Stanford, Kirchhof was the University of Denver's director of men's soccer operations for the 2011 season after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Colorado Mesa of the RMAC.


As a student-athlete at Fort Lewis, Kirchhof played for Skyhawks teams that went to the national tournament each year, winning the title in 2005 while earning national runner-up in 2006. Fort Lewis won three RMAC regular-season titles and three RMAC Tournament Championships during his career. In his final season, Kirchhof led the Skyhawks to a 15-6-1 mark and was named the RMAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.


Off the field, Kirchhof received many conference academic awards. He was the 2008 Fort Lewis College Dr. Troy Bledsoe Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as the 2007-08 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Honor Scholar-Athlete. He was a three-time Academic All-RMAC honoree and was selected to the 2007 RMAC All-Academic First Team.


Kirchhof earned a degree in interdisciplinary studies at Fort Lewis and a master's degree in sport management from California (Pa.). He holds a United Soccer Coaches Premier Coaching License.


A native of Aurora, Colo., Kirchhof is a Grandview High School graduate. He lives in Denver with his wife, two daughters, and their dog.

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Eric Bracy

Eric Bracy joined MSU Denver as an assistant coach in April, 2021.


He helped the Roadrunners to just their second 10-win season since 2016 in 2022, as the team went 10-6-2 overall while finishing a highly-competitive 4-5-1 in the RMAC. Forward Aidan Bates earned All-RMAC second team accolades, while goalkeeper Ross Miller and midfielder Adan Perez each earned All-RMAC honorable mention. Miller was a three-time RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week.


In his first full season with the Roadrunners, he helped the team to a 4-0-1 finish in the final five games of the regular season in 2021, as the team qualified for the RMAC Tournament for the first time since 2018. The Roadrunners were 8-9-2 overall and 5-4-1 in the RMAC, good for fifth place.


Prior to MSU Denver, Bracy had been the men's assistant coach at Division I North Florida since 2019 while also serving as the goalkeeper coach for the Jacksonville Football Club.


Previously Bracy spent one year as an assistant for both the men's and women's teams at Division I Marist. He's also been a women's soccer assistant coach at Arkansas, Brown and Division III Amherst (Mass.). He was also a men's assistant at Amherst, helping the team win the national championship in 2015 while coaching national goalkeeper of the year Thomas Bull.


Bracy played collegiately at Hendrix (Ark.) from 2012 through 2015, serving as the team captain in 2014 and 2015.

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