HIGH POINT, N.C. — High Point University Women’s Soccer Head Coach Aaron McGuiness announced the hiring of Emily McGrath as an assistant coach in February 2024. McGrath will be the goalkeeping coach.
"I'm excited to add Emily to our staff,” McGuiness said. “She relates well with the players and is eager to get involved in all aspects of our program to help build and maintain success. It was clear early in the interview process that her standards and values aligned with ours here at HPU.”
A Big South Championship returned to High Point in her second year on staff, marking the first title for McGrath at HPU. HPU finished the season 5-10-5 overall and 3-3-2 in conference play, doing just enough to bring the trophy back to High Point University. The Panthers got hot at the right time, defeating No. 5 Gardner-Webb University 3-0 in the quarterfinals before knocking off No. 1 Radford University 2-1 to advance to the championship match for the second straight season. The finals set up a 2024 rematch with No. 2 USC Upstate, where HPU claimed the Big South title by advancing on penalty kicks, 7-6. HPU earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament and was selected to face top-ranked University of Virginia in the first round. The Panthers fell 5-0 to the Cavaliers, bringing a historic run to a close. Four Panthers were named to the Big South All-Conference Teams: Bella Burr was honored with First Team All-Conference and a spot on the All-Academic Team, while Kasey Resker was named Second Team All-Conference. Joellie Giquinto was named to the All-Freshman Team, and Sabba Haghgoo was tabbed Honorable Mention All-Conference.
In McGrath's first year on staff she helped lead HPU to a 9-7-3 overall record and a 5-2-1 record in the Big South. HPU had a first round bye in the Big South Tournament, matching up with Radford University in the semifinals. The Panthers advanced to the Big South Championship game after defeating the Highlanders 3-2 in overtime on a goal scored by Megan Garmey. HPU went on to face USC Upstate in the championship game but fell 3-0 which ended their season. HPU won a record four major Big South Awards. Of those,
Alex DePerno was named Big South Defensive Player of the Year,
Sabba Haghgoo earned Big South Freshman of the Year, while
Aubrey McKessy was tabbed Big South Newcomer of the Year and
Tessa Carlin was awarded Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The Panthers had three First Team All-Conference: Carlin, DePerno, and Haghgoo; two Second Team All-Conference: McKessy and
Lindsey DeHaven; two on the All-Freshman Team: Haghgoo and
Kari Powell; one tabbed Honorable Mention:
Meg Roden; and one on the All-Academic Team: Carlin.
McGrath comes from Tiffin University, a Division II intuition, where she served as an assistant coach since June 2022. She was the main recruiting coordinator, helped organize travel plans, and was the point of contact for all away teams. McGrath was the lead planner for community service projects and assisted the head coach in game/practice planning.
While at Tiffin, McGrath was the girls goalkeeper coach at the Pacesetter Soccer Club (Nov. 2022-May2023) after being the boys goalkeeper coach at the Guerin Catholic High School from May 2019 to October 2021.
“I am super blessed and excited to join the High Point University family,” McGrath said. “Everyone I met at High Point has a deep love for the school, community, and student-athletes. I was drawn to the drive toward success that the athletic department and women’s soccer program has. I want to give a big thanks to Aaron and Kate for giving me this opportunity to join the women’s soccer staff and help grow the program’s success with them. Go Panthers!”
McGrath played collegiate soccer at the University of Toledo (2017-18) before transferring to IUPUI (2018-21) and graduating with her bachelor’s degree in exercise science with a minor in coaching. She was a goalkeeper for the Jaguars while being named to the Dean’s List every semester with a 3.8 GPA. At Toledo, she won a MAC Championship the the Rocket Scholar Award in 2017.
A native of Noblesville, Ind., McGrath now resides in High Point, N.C.
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