Villanova University Women's Soccer

Samar Azem was named as the eighth head coach of the Wildcats women's soccer program in December 2021.   Heading into her fourth season at the helm of the program in 2025, she has amassed a 13-22-17 record on the Main Line, bringing her to a 84-76-34 showing over her last 11 years as a head coach. Since coming to Villanova, she has coached seven All-BIG EAST selections and has seen two players go on to sign professional contracts. The Wildcats went 5-7-6 in the 2024 campaign with the program's best winning percentage in five seasons (.444). In BIG EAST play, they nabbed a 2-3-5 record, finishing seventh on the conference table with a .450 winning percentage. Of the three All-BIG EAST selections, one brought in First Team honors for the first time since 2019 for the program.   The 2023 campaign brought a 4-7-7 record for the Wildcats that started with the team logging an impressive undefeated streak to be on the last 13 teams without a blemish to their record. The ‘Cats went nine games without a loss, holding a 4-0-5 record in that time for the second-best start to a season since the 2007 squad’s 11-game undefeated spurt. Reaching back to the end of the 2022 season, Villanova went 12 games without a loss, the longest unbeaten streak in team history since the 2006 group went 13-0-2 to start the season.   Villanova’s 2022 campaign brought the second-best BIG EAST record in the last five years and third-best in the last decade, going 3-5-2 in league action and 4-8-4 overall. The ‘Cats allowed just eight goals in BIG EAST action, the second-fewest for the program in the last decade.   Azem came to Villanova after serving as head coach at Campbell University for the past five seasons where she guided the Camels to a 50-30-8 record. Azem led Campbell to a 12-4-2 overall record in 2021, a 9-1-0 Big South mark and a trip to the conference championship game. Prior to becoming head coach, Azem was a member of the Campbell staff as an assistant for one year and the Associate Head Coach for two seasons.   During the COVID-19 delayed and shortened 2020-21 schedule, Azem led Campbell to an 8-4-1 overall record and 6-2-1 Big South mark and its first Big South Championship since 1993. By winning the conference title, Campbell garnered an NCAA Tournament berth for the second time in program history. Campbell earned a No. 22 national ranking and had a program record four players named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region teams. The Camels also had a program best seven All-Conference honorees. For her efforts, Azem was the 2020-21 Big South Conference Coach of the Year.   Throughout her Campbell career, Azem has helped the Camels become one of the top offensive teams in the country. For the past three years, Campbell has ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense, including ranking eighth this past year, ninth in 2020 and 10th in 2019. Over the past three seasons, Campbell has outscored its opponents by a 126-53 margin.   Azem has also guided numerous players to individual honors. Highlighting this list is Alexa Genas who was the program's first-ever two-time Big South Attack Player of the Year, earning the honor in 2017 and 2019. During the 2020-21 season, Jessica Donald was named a Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 performer, while Cazzi Norgren was a Top Drawer Top 100 Freshmen honoree. Donald was also the program's first Big South Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2021.   Azem began her head coaching career at Division II Anderson University from 2011-13 where she tallied a 21-24-9 overall record, including a 12-10-7 record in South Atlantic Conference play. During the 2011 season, Anderson advanced to the semifinal round of the SAC Tournament for the first time in program history. Azem also led her team to a No. 8 ranking in the Southeast Region in 2011.   Her 10-year overall head coaching record stands at 79-69-28.   She also has had assistant coaching stops at Brevard College, Mercer University and Presbyterian University.    As a player, Azem was a standout goalkeeper at Campbell. In 2004, she helped the Camels win both the A-Sun regular season and tournament championships. Throughout her collegiate career, Azem also earned A-Sun All-Academic recognition and the program's Coaches Award in 2005 and 2006.   A native of Jos, Nigeria, Azem graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in broadcasting and a minor in Psychology from Campbell in 2007 and she earned her Master's Degree in education from Mercer in 2010.    

Erin Scott joined the Villanova Women’s Soccer coaching staff in the spring of 2024 as an assistant coach.   Scott comes to the Main Line with five years of coaching experience under her belt after a four-year collegiate career as a Division I goalkeeper. She is a familiar face to the BIG EAST coaching scene after spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach at Marquette. While with the Golden Eagles, she primarily worked with the goalkeepers and assisted in creating training sessions that emphasized the backline. She also played a pivotal role in recruiting efforts, travel planning, camps and fundraising. Her coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Valparaiso in the 2019 season, coaching and developing daily goalkeeper training sessions.   Scott had an impressive four-year collegiate playing career of her own as a Division I goalkeeper. She started her career with Creighton in 2015, playing in net for the Bluejays for two seasons before transferring to Campbell where she played under Azem for the final two seasons of her career.   Her first season at Campbell was one for the record books, conceding a combined 18 goals with fellow keeper Natalya Marcove for the fewest in program history since 1995. She developed into one of the best keepers in the Big South that year, allowing just 17 goals in 1495 minutes for a 1.02 GAA, the fourth-best in Campbell history. She went on to start in all 19 contests for the Camels in her senior campaign, logging 1576 minutes of playing time with 25 goals allowed and a 1.43 goals against average. She still ranks second in team history for career shutouts (nine), sixth for GAA (1.23) and seventh for saves (157). She went on to spend the 2019 spring semester as a student assistant coach for the Camels.   At Creighton, Scott made 24 starts in 25 appearances, starting in all 20 games as a freshman. She made an immediate impact in that freshman campaign, logging 108 saves and six shutouts while posting a 1.68 goals-against-average.   Outside of the collegiate ranks, Scott also spent the last year as the Director of Goalkeeping with the North Shore United Soccer Club in Cedarburg, Wis. She coordinated training sessions for youth goalkeepers while serving as an advisor and mentor for them to continue their journeys in the sport. She has also spent several years training youth goalkeepers as a coach at Camp Shutout.   Scott, a native of Sachse, Texas, graduated from Campbell with bachelor’s degrees in broadcast/electronic media and sports communication and pursued a master’s degree in sports media at Valpo.

Luca Crivellari joined the Villanova Women's Soccer coaching staff in February 2026. "We are thrilled with the opportunity to have Luca join our staff and program," Azem said. "With so many great pieces already in place and momentum building in our growth trajectory, we were intentional about finding the right person to help us reach the next level, and Luca checks every box. His extensive playing career and diverse coaching background bring a bright understanding of the game coupled with an exceptional ability to teach and develop student-athletes." Crivellari comes to the Main Line with five years of collegiate coaching experience after playing at the collegiate and professional levels. He spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach for the East Texas A&M, formerly Texas A&M-Commerce) women's soccer team following a year as an assistant coach at Arkansas. Aside from the college level, he also spent nearly two seasons as the head coach with the U15-U17 boys teams at the Specialized Soccer Academy in Bentonville, Arkansas. "I'm thrilled to join Coach Azem's staff and become part of the Villanova family," Crivellari said. "The culture and competitive ambition of this program are clear and I can't wait to get to work helping our players grow and compete at the highest level." In four seasons at East Texas A&M, Crivellari primarily worked with the defensive unit, helping the team to two Southland Conference Tournament runner-up showings with a conference play record of 24-10-8, never seeing a finish lower than top four in the conference table. The Lions had 19 All-Southland Conference selections during his time with the team, including a Player of the Year, two Forwards of the Year, two Freshman of the Year and a Newcomer of the Year. During his stint, the team also moved up to the Division I ranks. With the Razorbacks, Crivellari had a hand in planning and executing training sessions for individuals and small group athlete skill development. His time in Fayetteville saw Arkansas win the SEC regular season title in 2021 before going on to be SEC Tournament Runners-Up and make a run to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. He helped coach six All-SEC selections and was a part of a program that ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation and eventually finishing sixth. Crivellari played semi-professionally in Series D in Italy and at the fifth and sixth divisions of Italian football. He also played at the NAIA level stateside at William Woods University. He also spent time with Ozark FC of the NPSL/USL2. "Luca's infectious passion for soccer and commitment to winning will energize our program, while his values and tactical approach perfectly complement our playing style and will elevate our performance on the field," Azem said. "Additionally, his resourcefulness and intelligence as a recruiter will be invaluable as we continue to build a championship-caliber roster. We couldn't be more excited to welcome him to our coaching staff and look forward to the impact he'll make on our student-athletes and our program's future." Crivellari graduated from William Woods in 2019 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication and went on to graduate from East Texas A&M with a Master's in Analytics in December 2024.