Notre Dame women’s soccer adds Lauren Sinacola to coaching staff

NOTRE DAME, Ind. (Via Notre Dame) – University of Notre Dame women’s soccer head coach Nate Norman announced on Thursday that Lauren Sinacola has joined the Fighting Irish staff as an assistant coach. Sinacola joins Notre Dame after serving as the women’s soccer head coach at Western Michigan for the past two years.

“When I set out to hire an assistant coach I wanted to hire a great soccer coach, but most importantly someone that genuinely cares about student-athletes and is willing to positively impact them in all areas of their lives,” Norman said. “Lauren exceeds each of our program standards, and I am fortunate enough to have seen her display all these actions and traits first hand when I worked with her for three years when I was at Western Michigan.

“I feel very fortunate that I get another opportunity to work with her and can’t wait for her to join Dawn, Anna, our team, and the rest of the Notre Dame family.”

A 2010 graduate of Michigan State, Sinacola has spent the last five years on the Broncos’ coaching staff. During her two seasons at the help of the Western Michigan program, she compiled an overall record of 23-15-2 and an 11-9-2 mark in conference play. She led the Broncos to a third-place finish in the Mid-American Conference (West Division) in 2016 after going 6-4-1 in conference play. Western Michigan also landed three All-MAC selections and had 26 student-athletes receive Academic All-MAC honors during her stint as head coach.

+NCAA Women’s Soccer Commitment Announcements: April 2018

Prior to being named the Broncos’ head coach, Sinacola was an assistant coach under Norman during his head coaching tenure for the Broncos (2013-16). The duo led Western Michigan to the MAC Tournament championship game each season and won conference titles in 2013 and 2015. During her time as an assistant, 15 student-athletes were named All-MAC and 39 were Academic All-MAC selections.

Before joining the Western Michigan staff, Sinacola was an assistant at Olivet College in 2012 and served as a volunteer assistant at her alma mater from 2010-11.

Sinacola also has experience coaching at the club level, where she coached with the TNT Dynamite Soccer Club for four years and served as the head coach of multiple TNT girls teams. Furthermore, she coached with Midwest United FC in Kalamazoo and has spent time with the Olympic developmental program.

A native of Rochester, Michigan, Sinacola was a four-year starting central midfielder at Michigan State, where she earned All-Big Ten honors as a junior. She finished her career with two Academic All-Big Ten selections and two NCAA College Cup appearances.

While at Michigan State, Sinacola earned a bachelor’s degree in communications with a specialization in public relations. She also earned a masters in sports administration from her alma mater.