Jacksonville, Florida-After an extensive nationwide search, Edward Waters University Associate Vice President/Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Dr. Ivana Rich has appointed Abbey Golden as the next head coach of the Lady Tigers women's soccer program. Golden becomes the second head coach in the four year history of the program.

"We are extremely excited to welcome Coach Golden to our Tiger Family," remarked Dr. Rich. "Coach Golden brings quite an impressive resume to our program and we believe that she is a great fit for us and will lead the women's soccer program to even higher heights."

Golden takes the reigns of a program that had their best season to date in 2023. Edward Waters closed the season with 9-6-2 mark, their best since the inception of the program in 2020, and claimed a runner-up finish in the inaugural NCAA DII HBCU Women's Soccer Championship.

Golden comes to Jacksonville with an extensive background as a head coach as well as a high level player in her own right. Prior to her new appointment at Edward Waters, Golden was the head coach at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio, where in her two-year stint there, she led the Knights to a Top Five ranking nationally as well as a Top Three selection in Ohio. She was a two-time Coach of the Year, two-time Regional Semi-Finalist, two-time District Champion, and two-time Sectional Champion. Additionally, Golden has high school coaching experience at Berea-Midpark High School, Midview High School, Wellington High School, and Open Door Christian School, where she amassed several individual coaching honors, while leading her teams to division and sectional championships.

Golden also has club experience as head coach at the Cleveland Futbol Club and collegiate experience as an assistant coach at Oberlin College and a recruiter at Ediboro University.

She was a standout soccer player at North Olmsted High School, where she lettered all four years for the Eagles and remains one of the top ten soccer players in school history.  In her senior season, Golden was named 2nd team all-state and received the honor of being named a top ten soccer player in the state by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Golden continued her soccer career at Division I University of the Pacific, where she graduated in 2007 with a Bachelors Degree in Visual Journalism and Broadcasting and went on to play professionally with the San Francisco Nighthawks of the Women's Premier Soccer League.

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