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St. Francis University (PA)

St. Francis University Athletics
 140 Lakeview Drive Loretto, PA 15940
Division 1 Pennsylvania Northeast
Private Small National competitor
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Brian Diaz

With 23 years of experience as an assistant coach and head coach at the NCAA Division I and II level, Brian Diaz was named the women's soccer head coach in June 2024. He begins his first season at the helm of the women's soccer program in the fall of 2024.


Diaz brings four years of head coach experience from the Division II level, 17 years as an assistant coach (13 years at Division I and four years at Division II), and one year as the Director of Coaching for the Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soccer. In his career, he has coached 54 all-conference selections and 21 all-region honorees.


Diaz comes to Loretto after a seven-year stint at Oakland University as a member of Juan Pablo Favero's staff. Diaz, who started as an assistant coach and elevated to associate head coach in 2020, helped the Grizzles to 40 wins, four Horizon League Tournament appearances, and the program's first Horizon League Championship Game appearance in six years in 2021. Oakland posted an 11-9-1 record in that season, with a 9-1-1 mark in league play. It had the most conference wins in program history; the 11 overall wins were the most since the 2012 campaign.


Before his time at Oakland, Diaz spent one year with the Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soccer as the Director of Coaching. He oversaw the coaching staff and curriculum development of the Crew's youth club ages 5-18.


He spent three seasons as the head coach of Upper Iowa (2013-15), guiding one of the two schools in the nation with the Peacocks moniker to a 33-21-8 overall record and a 28-15-2 mark in conference play. Among the players he coached were the Peacocks' all-time career-leading scorer and a goalkeeper who currently ranks second in career goals against average.


Diaz was an assistant coach at South Alabama for five seasons (2008-12) and helped the Jaguars to a 20-15-6 record in his last two seasons. The 12 wins in 2011 were the program's most wins since 2005. He recruited five players who combined for 10 all-conference honors and the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year award.


Before his time at South Alabama, Diaz was a member of Favero's staff for 2007 at Newberry, where he helped the team to an 8-5-6 record. Diaz was the head coach at Converse College for the 2006 campaign.


A 2002 graduate of Tusculum, Diaz started his coaching career as an assistant coach at East Tennessee State in 2002, where the team reached the conference tournament for the first time in program history before returning to his alma mater for three seasons (2003-05). The Pioneers went 41-15-4 in his three years as an assistant. In 2003, Tusculum won the SAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16, including beating No. 21 Carson-Newman 1-0 for the program's first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament match. The Pioneers won its second SAC Tournament title in 2005, returned to the NCAA Division II Tournament, and finished ranked No. 18 in the nation.


Diaz was a three-year letterwinner for the Tusculum men's soccer team and helped the Pioneers transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. In his first season, the squad finished 10-9-2 and won its first SAC Tournament title after upsetting No. 6 Wingate 1-0 in the championship bout.


Diaz earned his bachelor of arts in sports management from Tusculum and a master of education in educational leadership from the University of South Alabama in 2012. He holds US Soccer A License and a United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma.

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Chyanne Dennis

Chyanne Dennis joins Saint Francis in February of 2024 as the assistant women's soccer coach after spending the last year and a half as the Head Coach at Plantation Eagles FC in Sunrise, Fla. She worked with female players at the U-11 and U-12 levels.


"I am excited to join the Saint Francis women's soccer staff as the assistant coach under Sara and help to bring a winning culture to the team and help to be a role model to the young women that I will have the privilege of working with." Dennis said. "As a player I was blessed to have a female coach during my collegiate career that helped develop my knowledge of the game as well as helped me grow into the woman I am today. I hope to leave a lasting impact on the players of Saint Francis as their new Assistant Coach."


Prior to her stint at Plantation Eagles FC, Dennis played professionally for Afturelding FC in the Besta Deild Kvenna, the top tier of women's soccer in Iceland. She started seven league matches for Afturelding.


Before her time in Iceland, Dennis had spells in various youth coaching roles at Soccer Shots, Florida Premier FC and Tampa Bay United.


"I am so happy to welcome Chyanne to the women's soccer team at Saint Francis." head coach Sara Butler said. "Her unique experiences as a player in the collegiate and professional settings provide valuable game expertise and will help guide our players' technical and tactical development. Chyanne has shown her heart for the student-athlete experience, and she is committed to their development as people first.".


Dennis played collegiate soccer at the University of South Florida from 2017-2021, where she played in 86 matches and was a key member of two American Athletic Conference championship-winning teams in 2017 and 2019. She was named AAC All-Conference First Team in 2020 and 2021, United Soccer Coaches First Team All-Region in 2020 and 2021, and Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2020. Dennis graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Management in 2021.


Dennis has played for the Jamacian National Team at various levels. She earned two caps at the 2018 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, and earned three caps for the senior national team at the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup and helped the team qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. Dennis also represented Jamaica at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

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