New coach steps in for women’s soccer
The Lane Community College women’s soccer team recently came under new management. Their previous head coach of five years, Erica Mertz, resigned in early 2019 leaving a pair of large cleats to fill.
Bryn Dennehy certainly has the experience to fill those cleats. His resume boasts 13 colorful years of professional coaching including a wide range of assistant and head coach experience. He has coached high school varsity teams and clubs, local soccer clubs and semi-pro and professional teams like the Portland Thorns/Timbers. He has helped coach for the Eugene Timbers since 2006.
Before his climb up the coaching ladder, Dennehy trained in both the US and Europe as a soccer player. Having played for teams in Germany, Belgium, Romania and the Netherlands, he has taken home a few awards abroad including MVP for the Euro Soccer Academy of the USA during his tour in Romania.
Dennehy has also won awards for his athletics domestically — most notably the Eugene Metro all-star award in 2006.
Sports aren’t the only thing on Dennehy’s mind, though, as he is also a University of Oregon graduate with a degree in English. This likens to the trajectory of Mertz, who graduated from the University of Nevada with a double B.A in Journalism and Psychology.
However, lengthy resumes and battle-hardened experience are not everything a coach needs to meet the requirements to lead the team that Mertz left behind.
Under Mertz, the team achieved a glamorous and rapidly improved record. This includes such victories as 26 all-star recipients, two southern region championships, and a final four appearance. In her five seasons at LCC, the women’s team never dropped below a third place regional ranking.
Several of these players, under Mertz’s tutelage, have gone on to play for NCAA Division I, II and III teams, marking LCC as a primary breeding ground for professional players.
Mertz left the team in Dennehy’s hands after the best overall season the team had ever achieved.
The team — after the 2018 season — finished 14-2-2 overall and a second place ranking. In addition to this success, six players were made all-stars and Mertz, herself, took home her second Coach of the Year award.
Dennehy has much to prove these first few years, especially if he wants to meet the remarkable 66-18-12 record that Mertz left with.
Currently, the team holds a 5-6-5 overall ranking for their 2019 season. Although it is not the best record the team has seen, three of the players, Aspen Trujillo, Bailey Mullins and Madisen Lease were named NWAC all-stars, potentially pointing to an encouraging future.
