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Wilkes University

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766
Pennsylvania Northeast
Private Small Developing team
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John McNichol

John McNichol enters his sixth season in 2023 as the head coach of the Wilkes women's soccer program as the seventh lead mentor in program history. McNichol will lead the Colonels in their move to the Landmark Conference for the 2023 season. He began serving as the Senior Compliance Office for Wilkes Athletics for the 2022-23 season and was named the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance on July 27, 2023.


In 2021, McNichol's team advanced to the MAC Freedom semifinals with a victory in the 4/5 game. Niamh Harkins was named was named Second Team All-Region IV by the United Soccer Coaches and Emily Bidelspach was a Second Team All-MAC Freedom selection. In addition, the team earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Silver Award.


In his second season (2019), McNichol once again led the Colonels back to both the MAC Freedom and ECAC postseason tournaments. He coached four all-conference selections, including Jessica Egan and Harkins as first team members. The 2019 squad earned the United Soccer Coaches Bronze Team Ethics and Sportsmanship award as well.


In his first season (2018) McNichol led the Colonels to a 5-2-0 record in conference and to the MAC Freedom championship game for the fifth time and the ECAC semifinals for the third time in the program's 32-year history. McNichol coached five all-conference selections including first team members Nicolette Towlen, Egan and Harkins and the 2018 team earned the United Soccer Coaches Bronze Team Ethics and Sportsmanship Award.


McNichol spent the previous four seasons as the head coach at Pennsylvania College of Technology. As the first full-time head coach of the team, McNichol took the Wildcats to the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) tournament three times, including the first-ever appearance in 2015 after leading the team to a 7-3-2 record in conference play.


During his tenure at Penn College, McNichol led the team on a steady course of improvement culminating in an appearance in the NEAC championship game last season. McNichol finished with at least eight wins overall in three of his four season’s at the helm.


In addition to his team success, McNichol found individual success with his players, coaching 17 All-NEAC selections and one United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American. His student-athletes carried their success into the classroom as well, with 30 players named NEAC Scholar-Athletes with eight United Soccer Coaches All-Academic selections. Over the last four years, McNichols’ teams have held a cumulative GPA of 3.19. The 2016 team was awarded United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for the 2016-17 school year, while the 2017 team was awarded the United Soccer Coaches Team Ethics Award, Gold Certificate, which is award to teams whose players received a low level of yellow or red cards throughout a season.


McNichol began his coaching career spending six seasons as a men’s soccer assistant coach at King’s College from 2008-2013. During his time with the Monarchs, McNichol served as the top assistant on the 2013 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) championship team, the first championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. McNichol aided in the team’s overall success by recruiting two United Soccer Coaches All-Region players, one conference Rookie of the Year, one conference Defensive Player of the Year, and 16 All-MAC Freedom selections. The teams also achieved success in the classroom, with 27 Academic All-MAC selections, and one CoSIDA Academic All-American.


McNichol also organized multiple alumni events, including Alumni Weekend, Alumni Games, and the Alumni Golf Tournament. Community service efforts were also managed by McNichol, who helped organize the King’s College Red Card Cancer project and all other community service projects, including free camps for children aged 5-12.


McNichol also had success at the club level, coaching the Cantolao Explosion 95/96 Girls Club Team to the 2014 PA State Presidents Cup Championship, while coaching two Division I, one Division II, and five Division III athletes.


McNichol has also served on multiple committees over his career, including the NCAA Women’s Soccer Regional Advisory Committee Mid-Atlantic Region, the NEAC Women’s Soccer Committee Chair, and a NEAC Men’s and Women’s Soccer Sportsmanship Subcommittee member. McNichol also served at Division I camps at the Penn State University women’s soccer camps, Bucknell men’s soccer camps, and the University of Maryland Elite camps.


McNichol graduated from King’s in 2008 with a degree in Marketing with a minor in Business Administration, and earned his Master’s in Health Care Administration in 2010. While at King’s, McNichol was a four-year member of both the men’s soccer and baseball team. McNichol was a two-year starter on the Monarch’s soccer team and a pitcher on the baseball team, which won the MAC Freedom championship and advanced to NCAA Regionals in 2006. McNichol also had success in the classroom, being named Academic All-MAC every semester.


McNichol and his wife Debbie reside in Mountain Top and have two children, John (5) and Thomas (2).

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Krista Liotti

Krista Liotti begins her fourth season with the Wilkes women’ soccer team in 2023.


Liotti came to Wilkes after most recently serving as the President/Director of Coaching and Head Coach/Team Trainer and Goalkeeping Coach with Football Club Ninety. Liotti has additional club soccer experience with Abington Soccer Club as Head Coach and Goalkeeping Coach, and with Cantolao Explosion as Goalkeeping Coach.


Liotti is no stranger to the Northeast PA soccer scene, having served two stints as Goalkeeping Coach at King’s College while also serving as goalkeeping coach, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach, and Head Coach of women’s rugby at Susquehanna University. She also served as varsity girls’ soccer Head Coach at St. John Neumann Regional Academy in Williamsport, where she was named Coach of the Year.


Liotti graduated from Misericordia in 2003 with a Bachelor’s in Psychology, where she was a member of the Cougars women’s soccer team. Liotti earned a second Bachelor’s from Lock Haven in Health and Physical Education, Coaching and Sport/Exercise Psychology in 2008, where she was a member of the club women’s rugby team, and graduated with a Master’s in Exercise Science and Health Promotion, Sport Rehabilitation from California University of Pennsylvania in 2013.

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Kayla Lopez

Kayla Lopez joined the Wilkes women's soccer coaching staff following the 2022 season as she competed on the field as a graduate student.


As a member of the team from 2018 through 2022, Lopez played in 47 games with 19 starts. She recorded 11 career points on four goals and three assists with eight of those points coming during the 2022 season.

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Michael Piranian

Michael Piranian begins his seventh season as the Wilkes men's soccer head coach in 2023 and leads the Colonels move into the Landmark Conference.


In 2022 Piranian coached the Colonels into the MAC Freedom Play-In Game as the fifth seed after finishing the regular season with a 4-3-1 conference record and 7-9-3 overall. Matthew Horwedel was named Third Team All-Region IV by the United Soccer Coaches and First Team All-MAC Freedom. He was joined as first team all-conference by Colin Schulmeister. Nicholas Surgent was named Second Team and Xavier Guerreiro was Honorable Mention.


The 2021 team made the MAC Freedom Tournament for the first time since the 2009 season, playing in the 4/5 game as the fifth seed after finishing the regular season with a 5-3-0 conference record. Piranian coached the Colonels to a 12-7-0 overall record for the program's most wins since the 2006 season. Matthew Horwedel was named First Team All-MAC Freedom and Second Team All-Region IV by the United Soccer Coaches. He was also the Colonels first men's soccer player to be named Academic All-MAC. Lucas Mueller was selected the MAC Freedom Rookie of the Year, Second Team All-MAC Freedom and Third Team All-Region IV by the United Soccer Coaches. Andrew Reichard (Second Team) and Andrew Slusser (Honorable Mention) also made all-conference.


In total, Piranian has mentored 14 all-conference selections and three all-region players in his six seasons.


In Piranian's third season (2019) the Colonels finished with a 9-8-3 record for its first winning season since the 2013 campaign. The team won its ECAC Tournament First Round game and hosted the first two rounds at Bruggeworth Field.


Piranian's 2018 team made the postseason for the first time since 2009 with a berth into the ECAC Tournament.


He has been working with the NCAA as a Regional Advisory Committee member for Region IV since 2022. Piranian has attended a coaching course run by Raymond Verheijen with the World Football Association titled Football Braining in 2018. In 2019, he went to Spain for a coaching course run by Todd Beane and TOVO. Most recently he has added two Performance Analysis certifications run by the United Soccer Coaches in 2021. He also holds his NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, USSF "B" Coaching License.


Piranian came to Wilkes after two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania. Last season he helped lead the Quakers to a 5-6-6 overall mark and 3-3-1 record in the Ivy League including wins over Brown, Yale and Cornell. During his time at Penn, Piranian coached six All-Ivy selections, one NSCAA All-East Region selection as well as drawing the twelfth ranked recruiting class in Division I in 2015. Those Penn teams also earned NSCAA Team Academic Awards for obtaining a 3.0 or higher grade point average.


Prior to Penn, Piranian spent six years as an assistant at Carnegie Melon University from 2008 until 2014. While at Carnegie Mellon, Piranian helped guide the Tartans to four NCAA Tournament appearances, the most recent coming in 2013. In their four trips to the national tournament during Piranian’s tenure, the Tartans won five matches.


In 2013, Piranian and the Tartans reached the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and finished 2013 ranked No. 18 in the country. That followed a 2012 campaign where Carnegie Mellon won the University Athletic Association (UAA) championship and was ranked as high as No. 4 in the country during the season.


The 2009 team won two NCAA postseason games, set five school records and finished the year as co-champions of the UAA with a 16-3-1 (5-1-1) record. The 2010 team once again won all its non-conference matches and finished with an 11-4-1 mark.


Overall during his six seasons at Carnegie Mellon, Piranian’s teams went 74-25-8 with a 23-14-5 record in the UAA with two UAA Players of the Year, 33 All-UAA selections and 72 All-UAA Academic honorees. The Tartans, ranked as high as No. 2 nationally, had 17 NSCAA All-Region selections and three All-Americans while Piranian was on staff, and 16 student-athletes earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors – including the first-ever men’s soccer player to repeat Academic All-America of the Year.


Piranian came to Pittsburgh after spending four years as an assistant coach at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. In 2007, the Generals finished with a 12-3-3 overall record and a runner-up finish in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament after posting a 6-1-2 conference mark. During Piranian's tenure as assistant coach, the Generals posted a 39-19-10 record, winning 12 games in both 2006 and 2007.


While at Washington & Lee, Piranian was involved with every facet of maintaining and improving the successful Generals program including recruiting, scouting, planning and running practices and goalkeeper sessions, game-day preparations, scheduling, travel arrangements and video analysis.


Prior to Piranian's coaching start at Washington & Lee, the Lexington, Va., native worked as the Field Management and Special Events Coordinator for the Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) in 2003 and 2004. During this time he organized events for the club, the Atlantic Coast Conference men's and women's soccer tournaments, and NCAA Championships hosted by CASL in Cary, N.C., at the SAS Soccer Complex.


Piranian earned his Bachelor of Science degree in consumer studies from Virginia Tech University in 2002 after four successful years as a defender on the men's soccer team. The Hokies tallied a 43-22-4 record, accumulating double-digit wins in each season.


Piranian completed a master's degree in sports management from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2009.

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Ryan Hilty

Ryan Hilty begins his second season as assistant coach for the men’s soccer team in the 2023 season.


Hilty joined the coaching staff after a four year playing career at Allegheny College. He has previous coaching experience at David Murray: World Cup Soccer Camp, where he oversaw practice sessions to enhance individual skills and team gameplay.


He graduated in May of 2022 from Allegheny College with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

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