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William Smith soccer coach becomes all-time wins leader in DIII

William Smith women’s soccer coach Aliceann Wilber recently became Division III’s all-time leader in victories when her Herons defeated Williams in an NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship quarterfinal game.

Senior BreLynn Nasypany scored in the 65th minute of the Herons’ 1-0 win on Nov. 21 to give Wilber her 423rd career victory, which put her past Rochester coach Terry Gurnett for the all-time lead in Division III. Wilber had tied Gurnett the previous day with a 2-1 win over Oneonta State, which had ousted Rochester from the tournament in the second round. William Smith went on to drop a 4-0 decision to eventual national runner-up Messiah in the semifinals.

Gurnett announced at the beginning of this season that he would step down as head women’s soccer coach after the 2010 campaign to focus more on his role as associate director of athletics for advancement. He finishes his soccer coaching career with a 422-136-65 record. Meanwhile, Wilber will enter next season at 423-121-49.

Only two coaches in NCAA women’s soccer history have more wins – North Carolina’s Anson Dorrance (715) and Connecticut’s Len Tsantiris (484) – both of whom remain active.

Wilber has led William Smith to 21 NCAA tournament appearances in her 31 years as a coach there and has led the Herons to seven national semifinal appearances.

She was the first female recipient of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Bill Jeffrey Award for outstanding achievement and longtime dedication to college soccer. She is one of three NCAA coaches (and the first woman) to win the NSCAA Coach of the Year award four times. She also has coached more Division III first-team All-Americans (18) than any other Division III women’s coach.