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University of Nebraska Omaha

Omaha, NE 68182
Nebraska Midwest
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Tim Walters

Tim Walter enters his sixth season as the head coach of the Omaha women’s soccer program after joining the program in December 2016.


In 2021, Walters helped the Mavericks to a 9-8-2 overall record and a third place finish in the Summit League with a record of 6-3. It marked the third conference tournament appearance and second straight under his guidance. The nine wins also marks a Division I program record for most wins in a single season.


The Mavericks picked up their first win vs. Nebraska last year with a 1-0 shutout on September 2. It was one of 10 shutouts Omaha posted on the year, which ties the DI single-season record.


Walters coached Margaret LaVigne to a Summit League First Team selection, while Grace Ostergaard was tabbed Second Team. Rachel Thigpen, Sena Ahovissi, and Cece Behrens were named All-Newcomer.


Walters led the Mavericks to their second appearance in the Summit League Championship match in the 2020-21 season. Omaha posted an 8-5-5 overall record with an 8-4-4 finish in league action to secure the third seed in the tournament. The Mavericks advanced to the championship match after winning 3-1 in penalty kicks vs. South Dakota State.


The 2020-21 season was record breaking in many categories for the program. Walters led Mia Reedtz Rehde Olesen and Sophia Green to Summit League major awards. Olesen was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year, while Green earned Newcomer of the Year honors. It marked the first time in program history Omaha earned either award. In addition to the major awards, six Mavericks combined for nine All-Summit nods, which is the most ever in program history.


Under Walters, Olesen and LaVigne were also tabbed First Team All-West Region by the United Soccer Coaches. Olesen was also tabbed College Soccer News All-Freshman Third team and top Drawer Soccer Freshman Top-100 with teammate Green.


In his first three seasons, Walters has helped eight Mavericks to All-Summit accolades and Omaha has earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award in three consecutive seasons.


In just his second season at the helm, Walters guided his team to the program’s first berth in the Summit League Tournament in 2018. Omaha knocked off top-seeded South Dakota State 3-1 in the opening round to advance to the Summit League Finals against Denver before falling to the second-seeded Pioneers.


Prior to becoming a head coach, Walters spent six seasons as an assistant on the UNO men’s soccer coaching staff. He helped the Mavericks post a 29-16-9 (.620) overall record in the last three seasons, including two Summit League regular-season championships (2014, 2016).


His coaching career began as an assistant Rolling College in Winter Park, Fla., where he was an assistant under head coach Keith Buckley for one season. In 2010, Walters helped the Tars to a 15-4-3 overall record and a national runner-up finish in NCAA Division II.


The St. Louis, Mo. native served as an assistant coach at Creighton during the 2009 season while finishing his degree in management information systems.


After starting his collegiate playing career at Kentucky, Walters transferred to Creighton for his final three years of eligibility. An attacking player, he started 29 of the 53 matches he appeared in, tallying seven goals and seven assists over his final two seasons. During Creighton’s 16-2-2 campaign in 2008, Walters had three goals and three assists. All three of his goals as a senior were game-winners, including clutch shots at sixth-ranked California and against Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals.


Walters enjoyed a career year as a junior, posting four goals and four assists to finish third on the team with 12 points in 2007. Walters scored the game-winning goal against second-ranked Indiana and followed with an assist on the game-winning overtime goal against Loyola Marymount to earn Saint Louis Nike Classic Tournament Co-MVP honors in addition to several national team of the week accolades in September 2007.


A graduate of Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Mo., Walters owns high school career marks of 97 goals, 222 points and 24 game-winning goals. His father, Tim, played soccer at Indiana in the late 1970s. Walters and his wife, Molly, have two sons and a daughter.

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Ashley Holland

Head women's soccer coach Tim Walters announced Ashley Holland as the program's new assistant coach on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Holland spent the last year as an assistant coach at UT San Antonio, leading the Roadrunners to a 12-6-4 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Conference USA Championship.


"I'm so happy to add someone with Ashley's experience and character to our program," said Walters. "Everyone who has worked with her speaks very highly of her and what she will bring to Omaha."


Prior to her time at UTSA, Holland was an assistant coach at East Carolina for the 2021 season, helping the team to eight wins including a 2-1 triumph over No. 23 Memphis. Before East Carolina, she was a goalkeeper coach at IMG Academy for a year, instructing U-13 and U-19 athletes, as well as US Youth National Teams and the Puerto Rico Senior National Team.


Holland had a three-year stint as head coach at LSU Shreveport from 2017-2020, going 26-24-5 and leading the team to its first ever Red River Athletic Conference Championship and an NAIA National Tournament berth in 2018. At the same time, she was also the head club coach and goalkeeper director for FC Dallas East Texas Club from 2018-2020 and an assistant coach and goalkeeper coach for the Shreveport Lady Rafters of the WPSL in 2017.


Holland's first coaching position was as an assistant coach and goalkeeper coach at her alma mater, Benedictine from 2015-17. She helped guide the team to a 42-6-1 record, winning a pair of Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships, and reaching the NAIA National Tournament Semifinals for the first time in 2015.


During her playing career at Benedictine, Holland appeared in 65 games as the Ravens' goalkeeper, going 45-10-5 with 24 career shutouts. As a senior, she played a major role in getting Benedictine a top-10 ranking in NAIA and an NAIA Quarterfinals appearance. For her efforts she was named HAAC Defensive Player of the Year and made All-HAAC First-Team for the second time. With Holland in goal, the Ravens won two HAAC regular season championships and a HAAC Championship title.


"She has had some great experiences as a coach, including a number of years as a head coach, as well as coaching last year in the NCAA tournament," added Walters. "It's great to be able to get someone with her experience who is also originally from the area, who already knows and cares about Omaha."


Holland earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Athletic Training and Physical Education from Benedictine in 2014. She later earned her Master's in Business Administration degree from Benedictine in 2017.

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Donovan Dowling

Donovan Dowling was announced as the men's soccer head coach in June 2022. He is the third head coach in the program’s history.


In 2022 Dowling led the Mavericks to a 8-6-2 overall record. With their 5-2-1 conference record, Dowling and the Mavericks finished third in the Summit League.


Dowling coached the Mavericks to two big wins at the last two home matches of the 2022 season. Omaha shutout Lindenwood 5-0 then shutout Eastern Illinois 4-0.


All told, the Mavericks collected eight postseason accolades and three Peak Performers of the Week. The postseason honors include All-Summit League First Team awarded to Gonzalo Cuevas, Kenji Mboma Dem, Lute Lillo Portero, and Tevin Rochester. Theo Klein and Cuevas both earned a spot on the All-Summit Newcomer team and Cuevas notched a spot on the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region Third Team. Aside from the success on the pitch, Lute Lillo Portero was honored on the Academic All-Summit League Team. The team as a whole posted a 3.49 gpa and was honored by the United Soccer Coaches for their excellence in the classroom.


Dowling comes to Omaha after a four-year stint with the Cardinals serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He helped lead the program to 36 wins, three NCAA tournament appearances, and a Sweet 16 finish.


Louisville made the NCAA tournament in three of Dowling’s four seasons with the program. Last season, the Cardinals earned a share of the regular season title en route to a NCAA tournament appearance. In 2019, Louisville made a run to the Sweet 16 with wins over USF and UC Davis.


In his first season, the Cardinals clinched the program’s first ever ACC title after defeating No. 18 Notre Dame, No. 1 Wake Forest, and No. 4 North Carolina. They advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament that season.


Dowling also led the charge for Louisville recruiting and is recognized as one of the nation’s top recruiters. In three consecutive seasons, he brought in recruiting classes ranked in the national top-20. The 2020 recruiting class ranked sixth, the 2021 recruiting class ranked eighth, and the 2019 recruiting class ranked 20th. Twelve of Dowling’s players went on to be drafted or signed by MLS or USL Championship teams.


While at Louisville, Dowling helped Cardinal student-athletes achieve a 3.2 team GPA to go with an APR over 975. He led the squad in community service efforts posting the most community service hours of any male sport at the university. He also served as chair of the Louisville Assistant Coach Academy and participated in the ACC Coaching the Whole Athlete Winter Cohort.


Prior to Louisville, Dowling served a three-year stint with UTRGV. He helped restart the NCAA Division I program in 2015, serving as the team’s top assistant coach. With UTRGV, he was the lead recruiting coordinator overseeing all recruiting efforts and managing scholarship offers.


Among his other duties, Dowling was responsible for opponent scouts, scheduling on-field training, team periodization and sports science, compliance, team academic, admissions and financial aid support, equipment oversight, and team travel.


While coaching at UTRGV, Dowling simultaneously served as the goalkeeper coach for Rio Grande Valley FC. He spent the 2016 and 2017 MLS preseasons training with the Houston Dynamo.


From 2013-14, Dowling served as the head men’s and women’s soccer coach at Northeast Texas Community College. He helped the men achieve a 2014 DI NJCAA National Tournament appearance and was named a finalist for the NSCAA Junior College National Coach of the Year award. He coached both teams to the most wins in program history after his arrival.


Dowling’s collegiate coaching career began in 2011. He served as an assistant coach with Fort Hays State in Kansas through the 2012 season. There, Dowling helped start the soccer program, eventually leading the squad to a NCAA Division II Sweet 16 appearance in 2012.


Dowling played four years of college soccer. He closed his career with two seasons at Fort Wayne earning All-Summit League recognition. There, he holds the all-time record for goals against average and shutouts in a season.


He played his first two collegiate seasons at Barton County Community College, where he was a Third Team All-American and First Team NSCAA All-Region and All-Conference honoree, leading his team to the No. 2 ranking in the nation while serving as the sophomore captain. A two-year starter, Dowling compiled a 39-4-2 record during his career.


A native of Olathe, Kansas, Dowling earned his bachelor of general studies from Indiana and added a master of science in sports and human performance from Fort Hays State.

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Josh McReynolds

Josh McReynolds was named an assistant coach for Omaha men's soccer in July 2022.


McReynolds spent the last four seasons as the head men's soccer coach at LSU Eunice after helping start the program in 2018.


During his four years at LSUE, McReynolds helped establish one of the top junior college programs in the country ranking as high as fourth in the nation in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.


In fall 2021, McReynolds coached two NJCAA DI All-Americans and helped the team to their second straight NJCAA National Tournament. The Bengals ranked 12th nationally at the start of the postseason and finished the year with an 8-6-2 overall record. The Bengals also excelled in the classroom, earning the program's first NJCAA Academic Teams of the Year honor while placing 4 student-athletes on the NJCAA All-Academic Team.


The Bengals made their first trip to the NJCAA DI National Tournament in spring 2021 playing in Region 14 and finishing with the best regular season record at 10-5-1. During that season, McReynolds saw two players receive All-American recognition.


McReynolds was a two-time Region 23 Coach of the Year after amassing 24 total wins in his first two years at the helm. In 2019, the Bengals posted a 16-2-0 record and were the Gulf South District runner-up. In the first year of the program, McReynolds helped LSUE to an 8-3-3 record. The team saw one All-American and six All-Region selections over those two seasons.


Prior to LSUE, McReynolds held coaching positions at Catholic High-Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge Soccer Club, and Albion College. McReynolds is currently completing his USSF A-Senior License.


A native of Zachary, Louisiana, McReynolds played collegiately at Freed-Hardeman where he earned his bachelor of science degree in exercise science. He completed his MBA in global entrepreneurship at LSU in 2014 while working as a graduate assistant with LSU Soccer.

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Cesar Herrera

Head men's soccer coach Donovan Dowling announced Cesar Herrera as the program's assistant coach Tuesday morning. Herrera spent the last two seasons as the assistant men's soccer coach at Iowa Western Community College.


During his three seasons at Iowa Western, Herrera helped the Reivers capture the 2021 NJCAA Division I National Championship, finishing with a final record of 20-1-1. In 2020, Iowa Western finished as the NJCAA Division I National Runner-Up, finishing with a 16-1-2 record. This past fall, Iowa Western finished 17-3-1 advancing to the NJCAA national tournament.


Prior to Iowa Western, Herrera spent two years at Hastings College. At Hastings, Herrera helped the Broncos to a 2019 NAIA National Runner-Up finish, ending the year with a 20-3-3 record.


As a player, Herrera began his college career at Northern Iowa Area Community College where he was named First Team All-Region. After NIACC, Herrera transferred to Hasting College where he helped them to back-to-back GPAC titles, along with winning the 2016 NAIA National Championship.


"Omaha soccer got better today," said Dowling. "Cesar has found success everywhere he's been, coaching in three national championship games and playing in another. Aside from Cesar's ability as a coach, his values perfectly align with the ethos of our program. We are excited to integrate Cesar quickly into our program this spring as we prepare for what should be an exciting fall season."

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