West Point U.S. Military Academy

West Point, NY 10996

New York Northeast

Public Small Developing team

I'm interested in this program!

Coaches

Email coach

Tracy Chao

Army West Point Director of Athletics Mike Buddie announced the hiring of Tracy Chao as the sixth women's soccer coach in program history prior to the start of the 2020 season. She will enter her fourth year at the helm and has an overall record of 20-14-10.

"Our search committee worked tirelessly to find the perfect fit for our women's soccer program and we found it in coach Tracy Chao," Buddie said. "Chao brings a wealth of experience as both a coach and a player at the professional, Division I and Division II ranks and throughout the recruiting process it became evident that Chao will be able to build on our program's success and through her leadership and expertise elevate our program to new heights. She has all the qualities we look for in a head coach at the Academy and stands for the pillars of duty, honor and country as we develop these young women on the soccer pitch, but more importantly off it as leaders of character for our nation."

Chao made her debut as the head coach of the Black Knights in the shortened 2021 spring season leading the Cadets to a record of 4-1, opening her reign with a four-game win streak. In her first full season at the helm, Army had a record of 7-9-3 and finished the 2021 fall season at the Patriot League semifinals after stunning third seed Loyola Md. in the quarterfinals 2-1 in overtime (11/31). She guided Lauren Drysdale and Emma Richey to All-Patriot League honors. In 2022 she led the Black Knights to a 9-4-7 record and won the regular season Patriot League championship after a thrilled 3-2 victory on the road over Boston U.

Chao came to the banks of the Hudson after spending four seasons as the head coach of Metropolitan State University of Denver. She boasts 15 years of coaching experience at the Division I, Division II and professional ranks. Chao is a 2003 graduate of Wake Forest University where she was a four-year women's soccer letter-winner and was the team's most valuable player in 2000.

"I am extremely thankful to Director of Athletics Mike Buddie and the senior leadership team for the opportunity to be a part of Army West Point and lead the women's soccer program," said Chao. "It is an honor to join one of the most prestigious institutions in the country with their mission in developing our nation's future leaders. During the process, I was inspired and impressed with the people, vision and goals, and I look forward to building on the past successes and traditions."

Chao became Metropolitan State University of Denver's head coach in 2017, and they had two winning seasons under her direction, including a banner year in 2018 when they were in the national rankings for the first time since 2015, peaking in the top 10 at No. 7. Under her direction for three full seasons, the Roadrunners went a combined 25-25-5, made three appearances in the RMAC Conference Tournament and she coached five to RMAC All-Conference honors, including the RMAC Co-Player of the Year in 2018. The Roadrunners were also standouts off the pitch under Chao, with an impressive 15 earning RMAC All-Academic honors in 2019.

Prior to her time at MSU Denver, Chao spent the previous five seasons at Division I College of Charleston. She had joined the College of Charleston staff as an assistant coach in 2012 and was named associate head coach in 2015.

At College of Charleston, Chao participated in numerous activities including coordinating recruiting, travel and budgetary responsibilities, equipment management, and operations. During her tenure, four student- athletes were named all-conference and four were named academic all-conference. The Cougars set a school record with a nine-game winning streak in 2016. The Cougars also qualified for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

Prior to joining the College of Charleston staff, Chao served as the assistant women's soccer coach at Colorado. During her tenure in Boulder, Chao had a wide range of duties and saw the program qualify three times for the Big 12 Tournament, including an NCAA Tournament appearance, and assisted with a program that produced multiple all-conference players and eventual draft picks.

While at Colorado, Chao served as the head coach of the Colorado Force of the United Soccer League's W-League, the longest standing and highest level of women's soccer leagues in North America.

Chao was also the long-time head coach of the Colorado Storm Soccer Association, a member of Colorado Youth Soccer, United States Youth Soccer and Elite Clubs National League (ECNL).

From 2005 through 2008, Chao was the top assistant coach at Northern Colorado.

Chao previously worked at Wake Forest, her alma mater, as an assistant to the senior women's administrator and director of women's basketball operations. In these roles, Chao maintained and refined recruiting and telephone logs for each of the coaches as well as performing upkeep of ACC and NCAA regulations.

Chao played at Wake Forest as a defender and goalkeeper and earned four trips to the NCAA Tournament during her career with a Sweet 16 appearance in 1999. During the 2000 season she was named to Soccer America's Team of the Week and was named Wake Forest's Most Valuable Player as she was 9-8-2 with three shutouts, a 1.41 goals-against average, and a .746 save percentage.

Later, Chao played for the Fort Collins Force and the Mile High Edge, both W-League teams.

Chao holds a United States Soccer Federation "B" Coaching License and National Soccer Coaches Association of America State Diploma and State Goalkeeping Diploma. She earned her bachelor's degree from Wake Forest in sociology, and her master's degree from Northern Colorado in sport & exercise science, sport administration.

TRACY CHAO RECORD BY YEAR

2020: 4-1-0 (4-1-0 Patriot League)

2021: 7-9-3 (3-4-2 Patriot League)

2022: 9-4-7 (6-1-2 Patriot League)

Email coach

Tori Ball

Tori Ball enters her second season on head coach Tracy Chao's staff after joining the program in June of 2021.

Ball comes to West Point after a four-year tenure at Colorado State as an assistant coach, which included a season spent as the interim head coach in 2020. During her time in Boulder, the Rams went 22-24-12, a stretch that was highlighted by the program's first-ever appearance in the Mountain West Tournament in 2019. That campaign was additionally highlighted by the Rams placing a league-high six player on All-Conference Teams and receiving the program's first five selections to the United Soccer Coaches All-Pacific Region Team.

Prior to her position with Colorado State, Ball was the head coach of multiple teams for FC Boulder, which is a member of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Among other responsibilities was her top priority of on-field and off-field player development. Ball also served as the program’s social media director in her second year with the club.

In addition to her experience with FC Boulder, Ball has spent time as the junior varsity head coach and an assistant varsity coach at Boulder High School. Ball’s first coaching stints included a student assistant position at Auburn, as well as a position with a club team in Auburn, Ala.

A Mobile, Ala. native, Ball played four seasons collegiately as a striker for Auburn University. In her playing career, she helped the Tigers reach the second round NCAA Tournament three times, and as a freshman, helped the Tigers win the SEC Tournament title. Ball finished her career with 21 goals, and ranks as one of Auburn’s all-time top 10 scorers. Of those 21 goals, eight were game-winners, which ranks fifth all-time at Auburn. Additionally, Ball ranks third all-time for the Tigers with 89 appearances, which includes 55 starts. Ball amassed 53 total points in her career, and as a junior and senior, Ball was second on the team in points.

Ball was heavily involved in community service initiatives in Auburn, Ala., and in 2013, spent three weeks in South Africa working with underprivileged children. Ball served as a volunteer for the Dreams to Reality Foundation, running school exercise-based education programming.

Ball was a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll scholar, a five-time Auburn Academic Top Tiger and was a member of Auburn’s student-athlete honor society, Chi Alpha Sigma. Ball holds her USSF D License and graduated from Auburn in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in fitness, performance & conditioning.

Email coach

Mason Portalski

Assistant Coach Mason Portalski is in his first season at Army West Point after joining Tracy Chao's staff.

Portalski comes to the Hudson Valley after two seasons at Coastal Carolina University as an assistant coach. At Coastal, Portalski assisted the head coach in recruiting potential student-athletes and as a goalkeepers coach. Prior to his stint at Coastal, Portalski spent two seasons at the University of Northern Colorado as an assistant coach, there he compiled scouting reports and training goalkeepers. During his time at UNC, in his first season on staff, the Bears won the 2019 Big Sky Conference Tournament Champions and made an appearance in the 2019 NCAA Tournament as well as had a Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, seven All-Conference, one All-Region, and one Academic All-Region honor.

Prior to his time at UNC Portalski was a Graduate Assistant at Western Illinois University from 2017-2019 where he worked with goalkeepers.

He also spent a summer at The Technical Institute where he was the first assistant coach for the Bluebonnets of the WPSL. In his first season as assistant coach, the Bluebonnets completed the season as South Texas Conference Champions and made it to the National Round of 16.

Portalski earned his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology in 2017 at Washington State where he was a volunteer assistant coach with the women's soccer program. Portalski went on to receive his master's degree in Sports Management in 2019 from Western Illinois University.

He played collegiately at Whittier College in Whittier, Calif., where he was a goalkeeper for the men's team from 2012-13.

He currently holds his United Soccer Coaches National Diploma, Levels 1 & 2 Goalkeeping Diploma's, and his USSF E license.

Email coach

Brian Plotkin

Brian Plotkin recently completed his second season at the helm of Army men's soccer after being named the 12th head coach in program history in May of 2021.

Army West Point Director of Athletics Mike Buddie believes Plotkin’s time as an assistant coach and a professional soccer player will help him lead the Black Knights to success.

"We are so excited to announce the hiring of Brian Plotkin as the next men's soccer head coach at Army West Point," said Buddie. "He brings a wealth of experience as an assistant coach throughout Division I, including Power Five schools and high-level academic institutions. As a standout player himself at Indiana University and an MLS Cup champion, he brings to West Point the highest level of playing experience. We are confident he is going to be a great leader of our cadet athletes, not only on the pitch but off it as we develop leaders of character for our nation."

Plotkin had a breakthrough campaign in his second season at West Point as Army won the Patriot League regular season championship for the first time in 26 seasons. The Black Knights finished the regular season with a 5-1-3 conference record and 8-5-3 record overall, including a win over Navy in Philadelphia. Unprecedented territory in this century for the program, Army suffered just one defeat in its final 13 contests of the season on its way to the number one seed in the postseason.

Plotkin was named 2022 Patriot League Coach of the Year following the season. Army took home three major awards altogether, with sophomore Gage Guerra named the conference's Offensive Player of the Year and Max Andrews collecting Rookie of the Year honors. Guerra was one of three Black Knights named to the league's all-first team, joining midfielder Cooper Warren and defender Nick Atkinson. With Andrews on the All-Patriot League second-team, junior Sam Epitime and sophomore goalie Tomas Hut landed on the third-team. Plotkin became the first Army head coach to win the award since 1996.

In his first season at the helm of the program, Army had a record of 8-7-3 closing out the season at the Patriot League semifinals. Plotkin mentored Oscar Pereira, Jacob Suppiah, and John Poncy to earn All-Patriot League honors. He guided Pereira to United Soccer Coaches Atlantic Region Second Team honors in his final season with the Black Knights.

His coaching career began in his own backyard of Chicago as an assistant for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers from 2013-15. In his three seasons on staff, Loyola improved every season and earned spots in the NCAA Rankings twice. Plotkin was an integral part in developing multiple all-conference selections as well as three players of the year while in Chicago.

Plotkin made the jump from Chicago in 2016, when he was hired in an assistant coaching role by Dartmouth College and Head Coach Chad Riley. His time in Hanover was highlighted by two Ivy League Championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances. With the Big Green, Plotkin coached up three players of the year and helped Defenseman Wyatt Omsberg become the first MLS SuperDraft selection in program history.

In 2018, Plotkin made the move to South Bend with Coach Riley after he was hired as the Head Coach of Notre Dame. With Plotkin’s help, the Fighting Irish made the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Tournaments.

The Lisle, Ill. native played collegiate soccer at Indiana University where he helped the Hoosiers win back-to-back National Championships in 2003 and 2004. He played in 90 games for IU as a midfielder, scoring 24 goals and totaling 36 assists. As a senior, Plotkin finished as the runner-up for the Hermann Trophy Award - given every year to the nation’s top college soccer player - and was tabbed as the Big 10 Player of the Year.

His time in Bloomington resulted in a 20th overall selection in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft by the Chicago Fire. Plotkin played in 23 games with the Fire from 2006-08 and was a part of the 2006 US Open Cup winning squad.

Plotkin signed with the Columbus Crew of the MLS for the 2008 season, where he was a member of the 2008 MLS Cup Championship team.

After a brief stint with the Carolina RailHawks of the USL First Division, Plotkin retired from professional soccer and began his career in coaching.

Plotkin earned both a United Soccer Coaches (NSCAA) Premier Diploma and a USSF ‘A' license in addition to a degree in General Studies from Indiana University.

Email coach

Jonathan Delano

Jonathan Delano joined the men's soccer program as an assistant coach in June 2021.

In his second season at West Point, Army won the Patriot League regular season championship for the first time in 26 seasons. The Black Knights finished the regular season with a 5-1-3 conference record and 8-5-3 record overall, including a win over Navy in Philadelphia. On the way to its best season in decades, Army suffered just one defeat in its final 13 contests of the season on its way to the number one seed in the postseason.

Before making his way to the banks of the Hudson, Delano made stops at Penn, Harvard and Dominican (Calif.).

Delano's most recent stop was with the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach. While in University City, the California native coached seven All-Ivy honorees including the 2019 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. In his second year with the team, Delano helped lead the Quakers to a 7-5-4 record, the team's best mark since the 2011 season. In addition to his work on the field, he played a major part in bringing in back-to-back top-25 recruiting classes to Penn.

Prior to his time in Pennsylvania, the Dominican University graduate served as the associate head coach of the Harvard Crimson men's soccer team. In his five seasons in Cambridge, he helped develop six professional players including 2017 MLS SuperDraft pick, Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu. Delano oversaw 19 All-Ivy honorees in his five seasons with the Crimson and was named the NSCAA East Region Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the team in the 2015 season.

Delano started his coaching career at his alma mater, Dominican University of California, in an assistant coaching capacity after his graduation in 2003. He was promoted to a head coaching role for the women's team in 2006 and was twice named the California Pacific Coast Conference Coach of the Year. As a result of his success with the women's program, Delano was elevated to director of soccer in 2009, putting him in charge of both the men's and women's teams in their first year competing at the NCAA Division II level. Delano also had stints as the director of athletic development at Dominican, and the head men's and women's golf coach.

The collegiate soccer standout also lettered in basketball for Dominican while competing as a student-athlete.

Email coach

Daniel Scheck

Daniel Scheck begins his first season as an assistant coach.

In his first season at West Point, Army won the Patriot League regular season championship for the first time in 26 seasons. The Black Knights finished the regular season with a 5-1-3 conference record and 8-5-3 record overall, including a win over Navy in Philadelphia. Apart of its best season in over two decades, Army suffered just one defeat in its final 13 contests of the season on its way to the number one seed in the postseason.

Scheck comes to West Point after a two-year stint at Stony Brook University as an assistant coach. While on Long Island, he helped the team improve from a 1-6-1 record in the Spring to 8-6-1 mark during Fall competition. Scheck also recruited and coached the America East Conference Rookie of the Year, Jonas Bickus and played a key role in the development of All-Academic Team player, Edmond Kaiser, who finished the year fourth in the conference for shutouts. Scheck served as the team's recruiting coordinator, managing on-going communication and relationships with potential prospects.

Before Stony Brook, Scheck spent two seasons as the goalkeepers coach at the University of Pennsylvania. While in Philadelphia, Scheck coached multiple conference leaders and Philadelphia Soccer 6 Team Selections.

Before Penn, Scheck spent two years with the University of Connecticut as the director of soccer quality control. In addition to assisting the coaching staff by planning practice sessions and game planning, Scheck promoted and generated ticket sales. In 2017, UConn ranked first in the country with a total attendance of 42,029 and an average attendance of 3,502 while Scheck was directing communication and promotional efforts.

A former Division I goalkeeper, Scheck locked down the net for the Temple Owls from 2011-14. In his senior season, Scheck served as team captain and earned an All-American Conference nod after starting 16 matches. As a junior, Scheck tied the program record of nine shutouts while netting two Goalkeeper of the Week awards from the American Conference.