UCF women’s soccer head coach Amanda Cromwell was named the NSCAA Central Region Coach of the Year on Thursday. Cromwell earned the award for the second time in her career after guiding the Knights to their first Conference USA Tournament championship and the highest national ranking in two decades.
Cromwell, who earned the honor in 2009, led UCF to a 17-5-2 record this season and its sixth-straight appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Under her leadership, the Knights were nationally ranked all season, including two weeks at No. 6 for UCF’s best standing since 1992.
UCF finished the year ranked among the top-25 nationally for goals-against average (.524, No. 2); shutout percentage (.625, No. 4), scoring offense (2.25, No. 18); and won-lost-tied percentage (.750, No. 24). The team set the school and Conference USA record with its 15 shutouts this year.
Several of Cromwell’s student-athletes received high praise during the year. The team collected six all-conference honors, Marissa Diggs was selected as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and as an All-American, and Tishia Jewell made history as the first Knight to earn the prestigious Senior CLASS Award.
Cromwell also earned her 200th victory as UCF’s head coach in the regular season finale. With 224 career victories and a .681 winning percentage, she currently ranks among the top-25 winningest active coaches and the top-30 all-time winningest coaches in NCAA history.