High Point University Women's Soccer

Aaron McGuiness was announced as the fifth HPU women's soccer head coach on July 8th of 2022.   We got our guy! The @AaronMcGuiness era at HPU has begun!#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/pSWpS5BFDV — HPU Women's Soccer (@HPUWSoccer1999) July 8, 2022 A Big South Championship returned to High Point in year four, marking the first title for Head Coach Aaron McGuiness. HPU finished the season 5-10-5 overall and 3-3-2 in conference play, doing just enough to bring the trophy back to High Point University. The Panthers got hot at the right time, defeating No. 5 Gardner-Webb University 3-0 in the quarterfinals before knocking off No. 1 Radford University 2-1 to advance to the championship match for the second straight season. The finals set up a 2024 rematch with No. 2 USC Upstate, where HPU claimed the Big South title by advancing on penalty kicks, 7-6. HPU earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament and was selected to face top-ranked University of Virginia in the first round. The Panthers fell 5-0 to the Cavaliers, bringing a historic run to a close. Four Panthers were named to the Big South All-Conference Teams: Bella Burr was honored with First Team All-Conference and a spot on the All-Academic Team, while Kasey Resker was named Second Team All-Conference. Joellie Giquinto was named to the All-Freshman Team, and Sabba Haghgoo was tabbed Honorable Mention All-Conference.  McGuiness in year three led HPU to a 9-7-3 overall record and a 5-2-1 record in the Big South. HPU had a first round bye in the Big South Tournament, matching up with Radford University in the semifinals. The Panthers advanced to the Big South Championship game after defeating the Highlanders 3-2 in overtime on a goal scored by Megan Garmey. HPU went on to face USC Upstate in the championship game but fell 3-0 which ended their season. HPU won a record four major Big South Awards. Of those, Alex DePerno was named Big South Defensive Player of the Year, Sabba Haghgoo earned Big South Freshman of the Year, while Aubrey McKessy was tabbed Big South Newcomer of the Year and Tessa Carlin was awarded Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Panthers had three First Team All-Conference: Carlin, DePerno, and Haghgoo; two Second Team All-Conference: McKessy and Lindsey DeHaven; two on the All-Freshman Team: Haghgoo and Kari Powell; one tabbed Honorable Mention: Meg Roden; and one on the All-Academic Team: Carlin. Year two for McGuiness saw a 6-5-7 overall record and a 4-1-3 record during conference play. The Panthers made the Big South Tournament in Matthews, N.C., but fell to USC Upstate 2-0 in the first round. Six Panthers were named to Big South All-Conference teams. HPU had three players named to the Big South First Team as Fain Buete, Lindsey DeHaven and Alex DePerno were honored, while Tessa Carlin was tabbed to the Big South Second Team as well as named the Big South Newcomer of the Year. Megan Garmey garnered Big South Honorable Mention accolades and was named to the Big South All-Academic Team; meanwhile, Meg Roden was tabbed to the Big South All-Freshman Team. In his first season as HPU head coach, McGuiness led the Panthers to a 5-10-3 overall record and a 4-4-1 record during Big South Conference play. HPU missed the conference tournament but had four Panthers named to All-Conference teams. Sam Gerhart, Alex DePerno, and Morgan Hairston were named to Second Team All-Conference, while Lindsey Dehaven was tabbed Honorable Mention.  McGuiness came to HPU after spending five seasons as an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University. With McGuiness the Rams have posted a 45-18-5 overall record, he as also coached 17 A-10 all conference players during his tenure at VCU. In his first season he was a part of a 16 win season for the Rams where VCU went to its second A-10 Tournament Championship game. In 2021, VCU won the A-10 regular season championship and tied a program record with nine straight wins with McGuiness as an assistant. McGuiness has head coaching experience;  he spent four seasons as the head coach of the Thiel College women's soccer team.  He knows what it is like to be a student-athlete, he was a four-year starter and a two-year captain at Shenandoah. He was twice named All-USA South Conference honorable mention. He is also played professionally, he was a member of the Palm Beach Soccer Club in the Brisbane Premier League from 2001-2005. He was a starter on the team that won the Brisbane Premier League regular season and placed as the runner-up in the Queensland Cup. McGuiness is originally from Tweed Heads, Australia. What They're Saying About McGuiness "Aaron has been an integral part of our program's success over the past four seasons and he deserves the opportunity to lead a program of his own. I am very happy to see this next step in his career come to fruition and I think he will make High Point University very proud." -Lindsey Martin, VCU Head Coach   "Congratulations to Aaron on being named head coach at High Point University, this is a fantastic hire! Aaron is an exceptional person, great tactical coach, and very driven recruiter. I am excited to watch them compete this fall, HPU is in great hands!" -Mike Melton, Associate Head Coach, United States Naval Academy   "I am thrilled that Aaron has been given this wonderful opportunity. It is great to see his hard work and dedication to his career and family be rewarded, especially since he is a genuine and good person.  He will be a strong mentor to the women of High Point Soccer and he is committed to serving the best interests of his student-athletes. I look forward to seeing his leadership find success on and off the field for his new program." -Rob Marinaro, Kent State Head Coach I am ecstatic for Aaron McGuiness and his new role ahead. He is maticulase with detail and will undoubtedly bring his knowledge and passion to lift the program at High Point to new heights. Congrats Aaron!- Jenny Ruiz-Williams, UNLV Head Coach

HIGH POINT, N.C. — High Point University Women’s Soccer Head Coach Aaron McGuiness announced the hiring of Emily McGrath as an assistant coach in February 2024. McGrath will be the goalkeeping coach.   "I'm excited to add Emily to our staff,” McGuiness said. “She relates well with the players and is eager to get involved in all aspects of our program to help build and maintain success. It was clear early in the interview process that her standards and values aligned with ours here at HPU.” A Big South Championship returned to High Point in her second year on staff, marking the first title for McGrath at HPU. HPU finished the season 5-10-5 overall and 3-3-2 in conference play, doing just enough to bring the trophy back to High Point University. The Panthers got hot at the right time, defeating No. 5 Gardner-Webb University 3-0 in the quarterfinals before knocking off No. 1 Radford University 2-1 to advance to the championship match for the second straight season. The finals set up a 2024 rematch with No. 2 USC Upstate, where HPU claimed the Big South title by advancing on penalty kicks, 7-6. HPU earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament and was selected to face top-ranked University of Virginia in the first round. The Panthers fell 5-0 to the Cavaliers, bringing a historic run to a close. Four Panthers were named to the Big South All-Conference Teams: Bella Burr was honored with First Team All-Conference and a spot on the All-Academic Team, while Kasey Resker was named Second Team All-Conference. Joellie Giquinto was named to the All-Freshman Team, and Sabba Haghgoo was tabbed Honorable Mention All-Conference.   In McGrath's first year on staff she helped lead HPU to a 9-7-3 overall record and a 5-2-1 record in the Big South. HPU had a first round bye in the Big South Tournament, matching up with Radford University in the semifinals. The Panthers advanced to the Big South Championship game after defeating the Highlanders 3-2 in overtime on a goal scored by Megan Garmey. HPU went on to face USC Upstate in the championship game but fell 3-0 which ended their season. HPU won a record four major Big South Awards. Of those, Alex DePerno was named Big South Defensive Player of the Year, Sabba Haghgoo earned Big South Freshman of the Year, while Aubrey McKessy was tabbed Big South Newcomer of the Year and Tessa Carlin was awarded Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Panthers had three First Team All-Conference: Carlin, DePerno, and Haghgoo; two Second Team All-Conference: McKessy and Lindsey DeHaven; two on the All-Freshman Team: Haghgoo and Kari Powell; one tabbed Honorable Mention: Meg Roden; and one on the All-Academic Team: Carlin.   McGrath comes from Tiffin University, a Division II intuition, where she served as an assistant coach since June 2022. She was the main recruiting coordinator, helped organize travel plans, and was the point of contact for all away teams. McGrath was the lead planner for community service projects and assisted the head coach in game/practice planning.   While at Tiffin, McGrath was the girls goalkeeper coach at the Pacesetter Soccer Club (Nov. 2022-May2023) after being the boys goalkeeper coach at the Guerin Catholic High School from May 2019 to October 2021.   “I am super blessed and excited to join the High Point University family,” McGrath said. “Everyone I met at High Point has a deep love for the school, community, and student-athletes. I was drawn to the drive toward success that the athletic department and women’s soccer program has. I want to give a big thanks to Aaron and Kate for giving me this opportunity to join the women’s soccer staff and help grow the program’s success with them. Go Panthers!”   McGrath played collegiate soccer at the University of Toledo (2017-18) before transferring to IUPUI (2018-21) and graduating with her bachelor’s degree in exercise science with a minor in coaching. She was a goalkeeper for the Jaguars while being named to the Dean’s List every semester with a 3.8 GPA. At Toledo, she won a MAC Championship the the Rocket Scholar Award in 2017.   A native of Noblesville, Ind., McGrath now resides in High Point, N.C.   #GoHPU