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Transylvania University

Lexington, KY 40508
Kentucky Midwest
Private Very Small Developing team
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Marcus Aldaba

Marcus Aldaba enters his first season as a co-head coach of the Transylvania women's soccer team for the 2022 season.


Albaba brings a wealth of experience to Transylvania, and a fresh outside mindset, having served as the Director of Operations for the University of Kentucky's men's soccer team since 2018. At UK, Aldaba helped develop numerous standout players, also having major contributions to the program off the pitch in operations roles.


"The opportunity to have Marcus Aldaba join aside Coach Reinecke as the co-head coach is a great opportunity to propel our program to the next level. Their experience will no doubt make them a dynamic duo. I am excited to see where they take our team", said Dr. Holly Sheilley, Athletic Director and University Vice President for Athletics.


As Director of Operations for the University of Kentucky men's soccer team, Albaba's teams won two Conference USA Championships and qualified for the NCAA Tournament all four years, making it as far as the fourth round in 2018. Aldaba mentored several elite players including Enrique Facusse, who was a member of the Honduras Olympic Qualifying team, and Aime Mabika, a First-Round selection in the 2021 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. He assisted in planning training sessions for the team, monitored the program's budgets, and managed the arrangement of away matches. Aldaba marketed all the boys' and girls' fall soccer camps, setting records for turnout in 2018 and exceeding them in the following year.


Prior to his time at the UK, Aldaba served as an assistant coach for Mercer University Men's Soccer, where he was directly involved with the recruiting efforts of student-athletes, coaching, and conducting logistics across the program as well. In each of his two seasons at Mercer, Aldaba helped the Bears take home back-to-back SoCon Tournament Championships and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. In both of his seasons on the staff, Mercer defeated ranked opponents in No. 16 Washington and No. 24 South Carolina. Aldaba helped coach and mentor great talent, including the 2017 SoCon Male Athlete of the Year, Will Bagrou, who was selected in the 2018 Major League Soccer Draft.


Aldaba also has experience serving as the Director of Operations at Southern Methodist University’s Men’s Soccer program, from 2015-2016, where the Mustangs qualified for the NCAA Tournament with the AAC Coaching Staff of the Year. Aldaba mentored a pair of 2018 MLS Draft selections in Michael Nelson and Mauro Cichero.


Aldaba was a Division III student-athlete, playing as a midfielder at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas from 2010-2013, where he was named to the All-ASC Honorable Mention Team in 2010.


He also currently serves as a youth soccer coach with the Lexington F.C. program in the U10 Age Group, having served there since the Fall of 2020. Aldaba holds a U.S. Soccer Federation D License and is actively working towards C accreditation.

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Ashley Reinecke

Ashley Reinecke enters her second year as a Co-Head Coach of the Transylvania women’s soccer team for the 2022 season, and fourth with the program overall. In her first season as Co-Head Coach, Reinecke led the Pioneers to an 8-4-5 record.


After serving as the top assistant on legendary head coach Patrick Farmer’s staff for three years, Reinecke takes over after Farmer’s retirement, alongside Marcus Aldaba, as co-head coaches.


“Ashley Reinecke has proven during her time at Transylvania that she is ready to take the reins of the program. She is passionate about the sport of soccer and about developing student-athletes not only to win championships, but for life”, says Dr. Holly Sheilley, Athletic Director and University Vice President for Athletics.


In her time as an assistant, Reinecke helped lead the Pioneers to a top-3 finish on the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference table in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season as Transylvania produced a 5-3-1 record against the opposition. As an assistant coach, Reinecke was instrumental in the development of five All-Conference players in 2020-21 including three All-HCAC First Team selections.


Reinecke brings a transcontinental coaching resume spanning multiple college and youth programs to Transylvania. During the 2019 season, her first with the Pioneers, Reinecke helped develop four HCAC All-Conference players, including First Team Selection, freshman Meron Roach. Reinecke helped design a defense which recorded four shutouts during the 2019 campaign.


In the 2021 season, her last as an assistant, the Pioneers went 10-7-2 as Reinecke’s squad had five All-HCAC student-athletes. Senior Abby Baker was named to the First Team, along with three Second Team selections, including first year Abby Dean who had an outstanding debut campaign learning under Reinecke.


A native of Toms River, New Jersey, Reinecke comes north to Lexington after serving as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, where she was part of a staff which led the Lakers to three winning seasons and two postseason appearances during her three-year tenure.


Along with her position at Clayton State which elapsed from 2014 through 2017, Reinecke has held leadership and coaching roles in the Triumph Youth Soccer Association of Tucker, Georgia where she served as an Academy Coach and Club Administrator. Having worked in the organization since 2014, Reinecke earned the Georgia Soccer Select Coach of the Year Award in 2016.


Prior to her arrival in the Peach State, Reinecke cultivated her coaching career overseas. While playing professionally for five years for the Keynsham Town Ladies Football Club in Bristol, England, Reinecke also was a youth coach with the Keynsham Town Football Club.


Reinecke’s coaching and playing endeavors in England followed a playing career domestically from 2010 through 2012, during which she played for the New Jersey Wildcats of the United Soccer League’s W-League.


A 2008 graduate of Division I Seton Hall University in Orange, New Jersey, Reinecke started as a midfielder for the Pirates and holds a master’s degree in Brand Design and a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations.


Reinecke holds a USSF D Coaching License.

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Ben Federici

Ben Federici begins his second year as head coach of the Transylvania men’s soccer program ahead of the 2023 season.


Federici joins Transylvania from NCAA Division III Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, where he was most recently the Associate Head Coach.


"Transylvania men's soccer is a program with a great tradition of excellence,” states Federici on his new stewardship of the program. “I look to honor that tradition by building a program that helps young men become great people and great players during their time.”


Over his nine-year coaching career, Federici has quickly carved out a reputation for building winning teams. Federici arrives to the Pioneers from another winning program called the Pioneers at Marietta, his alma mater.


During Federici's six-year tenure on staff, Marietta produced five straight winning seasons, highlighted by an 11-6-3 campaign in the 2017 season in which the program finished the campaign ranked seventh in the Great Lakes Region. In his first three years as part of Marietta's coaching staff as an assistant coach, Federici helped power the Pioneers to three consecutive winning seasons, marking the second time in program history that the Pioneers have reached that milestone. Federici was elevated to the title of Associate Head Coach ahead of the 2021 season.


Federici's imprint at Marietta was felt especially on the defensive side of the pitch, where he pushed the team to setting a new school record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. Federici orchestrated a defense which turned in nine clean sheets in the 2016 season and 17 clean sheets total between the 2016 and 2017 campaigns. In Federici's final season at Marietta, junior Dave Beattie won the OAC Defensive Player of the Year award.


With Federici on staff, the Pioneers qualified for the OAC Tournament in all five tournament-active seasons of his tenure.


Prior to re-joining the men's soccer program at Marietta, Federici spent three years as the assistant men's soccer coach at NCAA Division II University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio. His first application of a winning formula occurred at Findlay as the program notched its first winning record in 12 seasons. While at Findlay, Federici helped the Oilers drill five top 25 teams. Federici additionally accrued administrative experience at Findlay as an admissions department liaison to the athletic department.


Federici's Marietta roots originated during his playing days for the Pioneers where he won four varsity letters and appeared in 36 matches as a defender. His coaching experience began following an injury in his senior season of play, initializing a transition into a role of student assistant coach.


Federici graduated from Marietta College in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and earned his Master of Business Administration at the University of Findlay.

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Madison Lemery

Head Men's Soccer Coach, Ben Federici has named Madison Lemery as the new assistant coach for the Transylvania Men's Soccer program in 2023.


Lemery joins the staff after completing her playing career at Eastern Kentucky University.


"I am excited and grateful for this opportunity to be a part of a championship caliber team and to work with a head coach like Ben Federici. I am ready to bring a new spark to our attacking side as a team and to help take this program to the next level this season," said Lemery.


Dr. Holly Sheilley, Vice President of Athletics, remarked "Coach Lemery was a stellar player for EKU and has the right offense mind to help Coach Federici continue to move our team forward. He is building a national championship caliber team and Coach Lemery will certainly help us progress toward that goal."


In her senior season, Lemery earned United Soccer Coaches All-Region and All-ASUN honors leading the team in goals (8) and total points (17). The Colonels finished the season 9-7-2 with a loss in the conference semifinals.


"It was important to me to bring in someone with an offensive mindset that could help mentor and develop our younger attacking players," said Federici. "Madison is the best candidate for the job. She impressed everyone involved in our process with her knowledge and passion for the game. I am excited to add such a driven and competitive person to our staff."


The native of Lake Mary, Florida came through in important moments for the Colonels finishing the year with 5 game-winning goals, a mark that was top 15 in all of Division I women's soccer (7 was the most in the nation).


Lemery cemented herself as one of the top forwards in program history, finishing in the top-10 of every career offensive statistical category.


EKU Head Coach, Matt Cosinuke gives his thoughts. "We couldn't be more excited for, or proud of Maddy. She is a good person, a talented coach, and a hard worker. I have no doubt that she will make an immediate impact and has a bright future in coaching ahead of her."


In addition to her on-field accolades, Lemery served as a team captain, was a student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) representative for women's soccer and was a leader for FCA on campus. She also spent the last year coaching at Madison United Soccer Academy.


Prior to college, Lemery grew up playing for Orlando City and was second in the ECNL for goals scored in 2018.

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