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Sean Driscoll
Sean Driscoll completed his eighth year as Princeton's head coach in 2022.
Driscoll's first seven competitive seasons saw Princeton earn three Ivy League titles, four NCAA tournament berths, five NCAA tournament wins and a trip to the quarterfinals in 2017 that preceded a United Soccer Coaches No. 7 national ranking. Driscoll's players have earned three Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year honors and 39 total All-Ivy League recognitions, including a program-record nine in 2017. Accordingly, Driscoll has been named the Ivy League Coach of the Year three times, in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Through seven seasons of competition, Driscoll has a record of 83-31-12 at Princeton, making him the second-winningest coach in program history.
Driscoll's first season at Princeton in 2015 saw him earn the Ivy League Coach of the Year award, guide the team to the NCAA Second Round, and become the third coach in Ivy League history to win a league title in his or her first year on the job.
Princeton's 2015 team put together an 11-game win streak and a 13-game unbeaten streak that included an undefeated Ivy League season at 6-0-1 and the first home NCAA tournament game in eight seasons of Roberts Stadium, a 4-2 win over Boston College that made Driscoll just the second coach in Ivy history to win an NCAA tournament game in his or her first year in the role.
The 2015 Tigers under Driscoll earned six All-Ivy League honors including taking three of the four major awards, with Tyler Lussi's Offensive Player of the Year and Mimi Asom's Rookie of the Year honors joining Driscoll's Coach of the Year award. Through two seasons, Princeton players have earned 12 All-Ivy League honors including four first-team recognitions.
Following a 2016 season that saw Princeton begin 6-0, the 2017 Tigers picked up a pair of Labor Day-weekend wins at No. 20 N.C. State and No. 18 Wake Forest on the way to another 6-0 start. By the end of the regular season, Princeton stood 14-2 with the only losses to No. 6 West Virginia and Columbia, which ended as the Ivy League runner-up. Princeton earned another NCAA first-round home game and picked up the second and third NCAA tournament advancements away from Princeton in program history with a penalty-kick advancement against No. 21 N.C. State before stunning No. 2 North Carolina on the Tar Heels' home field for the season in Cary, N.C.
The 2017 team saw nine Tigers earn All-Ivy League honors including Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year recognition for midfielder Vanessa Gregoire as well as Driscoll's second Ivy Coach of the Year honor. The team's 16 wins were the second-most in program history and the Tigers shut out 12 opponents, tied for the second-most in program history.
In 2018, a Princeton player again earned Ivy Offensive Player of the Year award, this time with Mimi Asom, leading seven All-Ivy League honors plus Driscoll's third Ivy Coach of the Year honor. The Tigers won their last four games, including a showdown with Penn to end the regular season, to capture the Ivy's automatic NCAA tournament bid.
The 2021 team saw Princeton earn an at-large NCAA tournament berth, win an NCAA first-round game and win 15 games overall, shutting out 11 opponents to mark the third time in four competitive seasons that the team had reached that number of shutouts.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sean to our team of extremely talented coaches at Princeton,” Princeton’s then-Ford Family Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux ’91 said upon Driscoll's hiring on Jan. 12, 2015. “Sean is a tireless worker with a proven track record of success at all levels of the game. He has both a passion for coaching and a firm commitment to delivering a first rate student-athlete experience – on and off the field. His soccer knowledge and network are vast and we are confident that his leadership will allow our team to build upon the program’s long history of success.
“I couldn’t see myself at a better place,” Driscoll said upon his hiring. “Incomparable academics, an incredible athletic department, exceptional athletic facilities, a passionate alumni following and a tradition unlike any other, Princeton is the finest institution in the world and embodies everything I seek. The opportunity to serve as the next head women’s soccer coach is truly a dream come true. I am ecstatic to continue the fantastic tradition of Princeton soccer and cannot wait to meet the players and get started. I'd like to thank Mollie Marcoux, Anthony Archbald and the search committee for the opportunity in front of me and (Fairfield Director of Athletics) Gene Doris and (Fairfield women’s soccer coach) Jim O’Brien for my time at Fairfield.”
Driscoll spent five seasons, from 2010-14, as the associate head coach at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., where he helped head coach Jim O’Brien accrue a 51-32-17 record overall and 31-10-6 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, including back-to-back appearances in the MAAC tournament final in 2013 and 2014.
During his time at Fairfield, three Stags players won MAAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in three consecutive seasons from 2011-13. Over the last four seasons, Fairfield players won 11 first-team All-MAAC honors.
From 2005-09, Driscoll was the head coach at Manhattan College, where in his first year Manhattan’s six wins were the most it had since 2002. By 2006 and ’07, Manhattan had finished at or above .500 for the first time in back-to-back seasons in program history, including a program-record 12-5-2 mark in 2006, earning Driscoll the best winning percentage in school history.
Driscoll had his first NCAA coaching experience at Western Connecticut State University in 2004, where as an assistant coach he helped guide the team to an 18-5-2 record and an ECAC New England championship.
For nine seasons after graduating from Denison University in Granville, Ohio with a degree in history, Driscoll was a highly successful high school head coach. Between stints at New Canaan High School, Brookfield High School and Greens Farms Academy, Driscoll had a record of 116-38-13, including a 21-0-1 record at New Canaan in 2002. Driscoll’s New Canaan teams won state titles in 2001 and 2002, and the 2002 team was ranked No. 3 in the nation.
While in Connecticut, Driscoll co-founded the Connecticut Football Club, which trains premier-developmental and premier teams from the U9 through the U23 levels, serving close to 1,800 boys and girls on 90 teams. The club competes in the Elite Clubs National League, which is the top girls league in the nation, and acheived top-20 national rankings. In the club’s history, it has sent close to 1,000 student-athletes on to NCAA soccer opportunities – among them 2012 All-Ivy League honoree Claire Pinciaro ’13 – including opportunities with NCAA College Cup programs, plus numerous players on ODP Regional Pool and National Pool teams, including both the U18 and U23 national teams.
For two years, Driscoll was the director of the Connecticut Girls ODP program, and during his 15-year tenure with the state ODP, Driscoll served as a coach for the Region I U15 girls team.
The Trumbull, Conn., native is married to the former Heather Hathorn, a University of Maine soccer alumna, and has two daughters, Braelyn and Beckett.
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