Missouri State University Women's Soccer

·         Current Missouri State University Associate Head Women's Soccer Coach. ·         Current U.S. Soccer Youth National Team Scout. ·         Current U.S. Soccer National Coaching Education Instructor. ·         Current Midwest ODP Region Girls Head Coach. .         Current National ODP Team Girls Assistant Coach. ·         Former University of Nevada Associate Head Women's Soccer Coach. ·         USSF 'A' National License. ·         USC Premier Diploma. ·         USSF Instructor License.

Missouri State University Director of Athletics Kyle Moats announced Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, that Kirk Nelson has been named as the new women's soccer head coach for the Bears, effective January 1, 2022. Nelson, who was the team's associate head coach from 2014-2021, replaced Rob Brewer, who retired at the end of 2021 after 26 seasons as head coach of the MSU women's program he founded. In 2025, Nelson guided Missouri State through its first season as a member of Conference USA, leading the Bears to the Conference USA Tournament final in the program’s inaugural year in the league. Missouri State finished 7-9-4 overall with a 2-3-3 conference mark, while posting a strong 5-2-3 record on the road. The Bears secured a statement 2-0 shutout victory over No. 1 seed Western Kentucky in the conference tournament semifinals to advance to the championship match. Missouri State also earned a 1-1 draw against Big Ten opponent Nebraska during nonconference play. Under Nelson’s leadership, three Bears were named to the Conference USA All-Tournament Team (Ella Becker, Ellie Neath and Jane Hansen). Julia Kristensen earned First Team All-Conference honors, while Abby Hansen and Maddie Schneiderhahn were named Second Team All-Conference selections. Kristensen concluded her career ranked No. 3 in program history in points (49), tied for second in goals (18) and third in assists (21). Nelson led the team to the program's first-ever regular season championship in 2024 with a 1-0 win at Illinois State (10/24). The team then went on to win the MVC Tournament 4-0 over Drake (11/10) for the program's second tournament title and trip to the NCAA Tournament in three years. Nelson, along with the rest of the coaching staff, was named Coaching Staff of the Year. The Bears finished the year with a record of 13-5-3 and a 9-0-1 record in conference play. The Bears exit the MVC with two straight seasons having not lost a Valley game. MoState swept the end of the year awards with Player of the Year (Julia Kristensen), Defensive Player of the Year (Jenna Anderson), Goalkeeper of the Year (Camielle Day) and Freshman of the Year (Jane Hansen). This was just the third time in MVC women's soccer history that a team has pulled off that particular feat. In only his second year at the helm, Nelson recorded another 12-win season with a final record of 12-2-5. In Missouri Valley Conference play, the Bears were undefeated with a 7-0-3 mark and a four-game winning streak to end the regular season. Nelson's Bears finished second in the MVC and set new records in shutouts (13), consecutive shutouts (8) and road wins (6). Missouri State led the MVC in goals allowed (8), goals against average (.42) and shutouts. Senior goalkeeper Camielle Day broke the record for most solo shutouts in the season (10) and goals against average (.45). That same season, the Bears were named statistical champions by the NCAA in goals against average (.452) and shutout percentage (.684). Day was named the NCAA statistical champion in goals against average. In the 2023 season, Missouri State players earned: back-to-back MVC Defensive Player of the Year (Carly Raunig) and MVC Goalkeeper of the Year (Day) honors. Nine Bears were selected to all-conference teams with four being first team. Nelson also had two Bears selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Team (Raunig, Grace O'Keefe). The Bears also brought home a spread of academic awards in 2023 as well. For the second year in a row, Nelson had a player named MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (O'Keefe). Six more Bears were honored with MVC Scholar-Athlete selections for the most from any school in the Valley. During his first year as Missouri State head coach, Nelson led the Bears to a victory in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship, earning MSU a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. Nelson guided the Bears to a 12-7-2 overall record, including a 7-2-1 mark in The Valley, and a second-place finish in the MVC regular season. That year, Missouri State tied its all-time record for shutouts in a season (11), and freshman Hailey Chambliss broke the Bears' all-time record for individual game-winning goals in a season, racking up five total. In 2022 under Nelson, Missouri State players earned: MVC Player of the Year (Grace O'Keefe), MVC Defensive Player of the Year (Carly Raunig) and MVC Freshman of the Year (Chambliss) honors. The Missouri Valley Conference selected eight Bears to all-conference teams and four MSU players to its all-tournament team. Nelson also guided three MSU players to United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Team selections (O'Keefe, Chambliss and Raunig), and one of Nelson’s players was honored with the Elite 17 Award (O'Keefe). Academically, two MSU players were selected to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team in 2022 (O'Keefe and Camielle Day), with one of them being named MVC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year (O'Keefe). In addition, all 30 Bears made the MSU Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the fall 2022 semester and six MoState players were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team. During his time as associate head coach, Nelson helped the Bears garner numerous accolades during the 2020-21 season, including three All-MVC selections, in Jacqueline Baetz, Anna Durnin and Isabel Burke. The Bears recorded thrilling wins over Drake and Southern Illinois down the final stretch of the season.  MSU recorded three shutouts with Katherine Montgomery and Kaitlyn Maxwell at the helm. Maddie Augustine, Baetz, Sierra Fury and Durnin all garnered MVC Scholar-Athlete selections. He helped guide the Bears to an 11-5-2 record in 2019, recording six home wins and a 4-2-1 MVC mark. MSU strung together a six-game undefeated non-conference streak, highlighted by a 5-1 thumping of Tulsa on its home field. The Bears reached the MVC tournament semifinals and boasted seven players to all-conference awards, with Kaitlin Maxwell collecting goalkeeper of the year for the second-straight season.   Originally from Annapolis, Maryland, Nelson has acted as a coach for the Midwest Region Olympic Development Program (ODP), where in 2019, his ODP squad went undefeated and advanced to the national championship in Boca Raton, Fla. He has recently been invited to be a coach for the ODP National Team with the ‘04 girls team for January of 2022. In 2017, Nelson was instrumental in the Bears' run to the MVC Tournament title and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000. The Bears also boasted seven MVC postseason award winners along with two all-region picks. In 2015, he helped the Bears reach the MVC Tournament for the 19th time in 20 seasons. As the three-seed, MSU hosted an opening round match in the MVC Tournament. In 2014, Nelson assisted in the Bears advancement to the MVC Tournament semifinals after a road victory as the five-seed. Nelson came to Missouri State in 2014 after four seasons at the University of Nevada where he guided the Wolf Pack to back-to-back Mountain West Conference Tournaments in his last two seasons. In 2013, Nelson was promoted to associate head coach after spending his first three years in Reno as an assistant coach. Prior to joining the Nevada staff, Nelson spent a season as an assistant coach at Washington State University. While in Pullman, he served as the recruiting coordinator for the Cougars and helped secure the 37th-ranked recruiting class in the nation that season. Nelson also excelled in the high school ranks with stints at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., as the head girls varsity soccer coach, and at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix where his teams competed for a pair of 5A state championships titles and recorded 175 wins. Nelson’s career has also included stints as an assistant coach for the W-League's Arizona Heatwave, the WPSL's Cheetahs from 2004-08, and as the associate head and assistant women's coach at Scottsdale Community College and Mesa Community College. Nelson played collegiately at Virginia Tech and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland in 1993 with a degree in Finance. He also earned two post-graduate degrees, one in Secondary Education and one in Mathematics, both in 1997 from University of Phoenix. He is certified as a USSF National "A" License coach, one of the highest coaching certifications given out by the federation, and holds both an NSCAA Premier Diploma and a Goalkeeping Diploma. He has served as the Lead USSF Coaching License Instructor for Nevada, Missouri and Kansas, where he instructed the "D" & "E" coaching license courses. In 2012, he was honored with the first-ever Nevada Coaching Educator of the Year Award. Nelson and his wife, Michele, have two children, Brock & Brynn.

Sara Halilhodzic was announced as the newest Missouri State women’s soccer assistant coach on January 11, 2023.  In 2025, Halilhodzic helped guide Missouri State through its first season competing in Conference USA, assisting the Bears to a berth in the CUSA Tournament championship match in the program’s inaugural year in the league. Missouri State finished 7-9-4 overall and advanced to the title match after earning a 2-0 shutout victory over No. 1 seed Western Kentucky in the quarterfinals. The Bears also recorded a 1-1 result against Big Ten opponent Nebraska during the nonconference slate. Halilhodzic played a key role in the development of Missouri State’s goalkeepers throughout the season. The Bears’ primary goalkeeper started all 20 matches, recording 70 saves, five shutouts and a .714 save percentage with a 1.49 goals-against average. She earned Conference USA Goalkeeper of the Week honors on Sept. 23 following a shutout win over the top team in the conference and was later named to the Conference USA All-Tournament Team. Halilhodzic (hal-lil-HO-jitch) helped lead the Bears to the program's first-ever regular season conference championship in 2024, just her second season with the program. The Bears went on to record a 13-5-3 record with a MVC mark of 9-0-1 and a Valley tournament championship as well. The Missouri State coaching staff was named MVC women's soccer Coaching Staff of the Year and swept the player awards. In her first season with the Bears, Halilhodzic assisted MoState to a 12-2-5 record. With 13 shutouts, the Bears' goalkeepers set a new program record for most shutouts in a season. Eight of those shutouts were consecutive to set another new program record. Halilhodzic helped the Bears to an undefeated conference season that saw two Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Year and nine Bears named to All-MVC teams. Halilhodzic joined the MSU staff after five seasons as a goalkeeper at Columbus State. In her last season for the Cougars, she allowed just 10 goals with a 0.88 goals-against average. She also posted 45 saves, notching a save percentage of 0.818 and helping CSU secure the regular season Peach Belt Conference championship and reach the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament semifinals. Halilhodzic brings coach experience to the Bears as well, co-owning Forge Goalkeeping Academy since 2019. She also has coached at CSU youth soccer camps since 2018, instructing kids aged 4-16. At Northside High in Columbus, Ga., Halilhodzic served as a goalkeeper coach for the 2022 spring season, helping produce an all-region nominee. She also was a goalkeeper coach during the fall 2019 and 2022 seasons, developing goalkeepers for Columbus Youth Soccer Association teams from u10 to u14 age groups. Halilhodzic's grassroots level is in progress for her U.S. Soccer coaching license. "The new year is starting off strong with the addition of Sara to our Bears coaching staff," head coach Kirk Nelson said. "Along with quality coaching, she will be a great role model and guide for our student-athletes with her experience in the final four and as an All-American. She knows what it takes to compete and perform at a high level. Excited to get her here this spring and get rolling."

Christy Kononiuk has rejoined the Missouri State women's soccer program during the summer of 2025. She primarily assisted with the midfielders and forwards. She was previously part of the Missouri State coaching staff from 2022-2023. Kononiuk served as the assistant coach for women's soccer at Evangel University from 2023-2024. Kononiuk played a key role in Missouri State’s first season in Conference USA and a run to the CUSA Tournament championship match. Working primarily with the midfielders and forwards, she coached four all-conference honorees, including forward Julia Kristensen, who earned First Team All-Conference recognition after totaling five goals and three assists. Midfielder Abby Hansen started 15 matches and recorded three goals and six assists to earn Second Team All-Conference and Conference USA All-Academic Team honors. Midfielders Ellie Neath and Jane Hansen each earned Conference USA All-Tournament Team recognition, with Neath scoring two game-winning goals during the postseason to help propel the Bears into the championship match. During her last stint at MSU, she landed three forwards and one midfielder on All-MVC Teams, including sophomore Grace O'Keefe earning MVC Player of the Year honors and freshman Hailey Chambliss being named Valley Freshman of the Year. This year, the Bears returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 after winning the MVC Tournament as a No. 2 seed. Missouri State posted a 12-7-2 (7-2-1 MVC) mark, and Chambliss set the Bears' all-time record for individual game-winning goals in a season, accounting for five total. Kononiuk came to MSU from Evangel, where she has served as an assistant coach since 2018. Kononiuk is no stranger to the MSU program as she was a volunteer assistant for the Bears from 2016-2017. During her time on staff, she helped lead Missouri State to an MVC tournament championship and NCAA appearance in 2017. In addition to working at MSU and Evangel, Kononiuk brings a strong background in youth development. She is currently the Midwest Region Olympic Development Program (ODP) Head Coach and the Girls Director with Southwest Missouri Rush. She also served as the Missouri Youth Soccer Association ODP Head Coach in 2016 and led the Sporting Springfield Soccer Club from 2015-2019. Kononiuk began her coaching career in 1994 and holds several elite coaching credentials, including the USSF National A License (2019), USSF Grassroots Coaching Instructor License (2018), and most recently, the USSF Talent Scout License. She graduated from Evangel University in 2025. Christy and her husband Bob have two daughters, Karis and Kayla.