POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Vassar College Director of Athletics and Physical Education Michelle Walsh has announced that Keith Simons has been named the next Head Women's Soccer Coach. He becomes the 13th head coach in program history, dating back to 1981 when the Brewers joined the NCAA Division III.  The former Associate Head Coach at Wesleyan University, Simons comes to Vassar following a two-year stint with the Cardinals.

"I couldn't be more excited to be joining the Vassar community. It's proven academic and athletic excellence makes Vassar a special place. I believe Vassar College provides its students amazing opportunities to excel on and off the field and I look forward to contributing to that success," said Simons. "I want to thank Director of Athletics & Physical Education Michelle Walsh, Associate Athletic Director for Compliance & Student-Athlete Welfare Kaitlin Leach and the entire search committee for this great opportunity. I'd also like to thank Wesleyan Women's Soccer Coach Eva Meredith for her guidance and support over the past two years."

Simons, who joined the Cardinals' staff in 2019, helped lead Wesleyan to one of the program's best seasons in recent memory as the squad achieved its best regular-season performance since 2011 with a 9-4-2 overall record and a 4-4-2 conference mark. Wesleyan set a new program record for longest unbeaten streak in a season with eight (6-0-2), surpassing the previous record of six that was set by the 1981 and 1993 teams. The Cardinals also won their third Little Three title and first since 1982. During that eight-game unbeaten streak, Wesleyan defeated the defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Williams, 2-1, at home and earned a national ranking, vaulting as high as No. 21 in the list.

"I'm excited to welcome Keith to the Vassar family," stated Walsh.  "Keith has extensive coaching and playing experience at the Division III level that will enable him to hit the ground running here and continue the recent success of the Vassar women's soccer program.  Most recently, Keith served as the Associate Head Women's Soccer Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Wesleyan College and was also a member of their department Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.  We are looking forward to the future of the women's soccer program under his leadership."

As noted, Simons served as a member of Wesleyan's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee where he was an accountability partner for a number of Cardinals' athletic teams. He assisted squads in planning, preparing and executing DEI training and education. As a member of the committee, he helped implement two DEI training events per team, enabled each team to engage with other squads for DEI conversations, while also preparing teams to participate in a community service event.

Simons arrived at Wesleyan after previously serving as the head men's soccer coach at The Sage Colleges from 2016-18. His first season with the Gators proved to be very successful, as Simons guided the team back to the Skyline Conference Championship game, while coaching two Skyline Conference All-Star players. He followed his first year with a 10-6-2 overall record in 2017, en-route to the Empire 8 Conference Championship game.

Prior to arriving at Sage, Simons was an assistant men's soccer coach at Liberty League-rival Skidmore College for three seasons, where he helped lead the Thoroughbreds to a 32-18-6 overall record. He also guided the team to the Liberty League Championship two times in his three years. During his tenure at Skidmore, the squad was recognized twice with NSCAA Team Academic Awards, while the 2015 team was ranked No. 22 in the nation.

Simons was an assistant coach at Elmira for two seasons (2011 & 2012) before arriving at Skidmore, and also spent time as a volunteer assistant coach prior to that.

A 2010 graduate of Manhattanville College, Simons was co-captain his senior year and received the college's Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award. He was a three-time Middle Athletic Conference All-Academic selection and was NSCAA Scholar All-East Region Honorable Mention in 2009. He earned his master's degree in general management from Elmira in 2013.

Simons currently holds an NSCAA Premier Diploma, NSCAA Goalkeeping Level III Diploma and USSF National D License.