Saint Louis Billikens Athletics

In Katie Shields’ 12th season as head coach, the 2024 Saint Louis University women’s soccer team continued the program’s firm hold on the Atlantic 10 Conference and made another strong challenge on the national scene.
 
Shields begins the 2025 season, her 13th at the controls, with a 168-61-22 overall record. Her .713 winning percentage ranks ninth among active NCAA Division I women’s soccer coaches with a minimum of five seasons. From 2016-24, Shields’ .792 winning percentage (146-32-17) ranks second among all active Division I women’s soccer coaches (minimum five seasons) and is the top mark among active female Division I women’s soccer coaches. The 146 wins are the most of any nine-year period in SLU women’s soccer history and the most in the A-10 from 2016-24.
 
In addition, Saint Louis posted a 94-8-8 (.891) record vs. A-10 opponents (regular season and conference tournament) from 2016-24. During their three-year regular-season championship run of 2018-20, the Billikens were undefeated (27-0-1, .982) in regular-season league competition; adding conference tournament games, the three-year record was 35-0-1 (.986) against A-10 opponents. In its current three-year title streak of 2022-24, SLU went 26-0-4 (.933) in regular-season play and 35-0-4 (.949) including A-10 Championship matches.
 
Shields’ 2024 Saint Louis team finished atop the A-10 standings for a sixth time in seven years and captured a seventh straight A-10 Championship crown, extending its league record for consecutive women’s soccer tournament titles. After beginning their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance by defeating Kansas at home – a game that drew 3,136 fans to Robert R. Hermann Stadium, the second-largest first-round attendance of the 2024 tournament – the Billikens erased a one-goal deficit three different times before being edged in overtime by No. 1 seed USC in an epic second-round battle in California.
 
SLU, which posted records of 15-2-6 overall and 7-0-3 in the A-10, garnered a No. 22 ranking in the final United Soccer Coaches and Top Drawer Soccer national polls as well as in the final NCAA Division I Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). Shields’ Billikens took on some of the nation’s top teams, including two – USC and Penn State – that achieved top-10 RPI final rankings, and four others (Xavier, Kansas, BYU and Massachusetts) that landed among the final RPI top 50.
 
Saint Louis finished among the national top 20 in numerous categories including goal differential (eighth, plus-38), corner kicks per game (eighth, 7.09), goals against average (11th, 0.61), shutout percentage (11th, .609), winning percentage (13th, .783) and goals per game (20th, 2.26).
 
Lyndsey Heckel and Emily Gaebe led the way in individual accolades, earning A-10 Defensive and Offensive Player of the Year honors, respectively, as well as spots on the All-Conference and United Soccer Coaches All-Region first teams. Emily Puricelli was a third-team All-Region selection, Sophia Stram and Julia Simon were named to the All-Conference second team, and Hope Kim was an A-10 All-Rookie performer.

YEAR-BY-YEAR HIGHLIGHTS OF KATIE SHIELDS' SLU COACHING TENURE  

Shields collected her 100th career victory April 15, 2021, when the Billikens defeated Dayton 3-0 in the A-10 Championship semifinals at Hermann Stadium. Her 150th win also occurred in an A-10 Championship semifinal at Hermann, a 5-0 victory over Duquesne on Nov. 1, 2023. Shields coached her 250th game at SLU during the 2024 season.
 
During Shields’ tenure, Saint Louis players have earned All-America honors seven times, All-Region plaudits 32 times and Atlantic 10 accolades (first team, second team, All-Rookie) 77 times. In addition, Billikens have been selected A-10 Defensive Player of the Year eight times (eight of the past nine seasons), Offensive Player of the Year four times (including each of the past three seasons), Midfielder of the Year three times, Rookie of the Year twice, and Goalkeeper of the Year once (award was initiated in 2023).
 
Shields’ Billikens have made Hermann Stadium one of the nation’s most difficult venues for visiting teams, going 79-9-11 (.854) on their home pitch from the final home game of the 2015 season through 2024. That includes a combined 29-1-2 (.938) ledger in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 campaigns. 
 
Depth and balance are hallmarks of Saint Louis women’s soccer in Shields’ system. Twenty-one different Billikens combined to earn 55 A-10 weekly awards between 2017 and 2024. There were 33 different player combinations that accounted for the Bills’ 39 assisted goals in 2024, continuing a broad-based offensive attack that began in 2017.
 
After serving as a Billiken assistant coach in 2012, Shields was named the third head coach in program history on Jan. 15, 2013.
 
Prior to her arrival at SLU, Shields spent two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Northwestern. She served three years in the same capacities at her alma mater, Harvard, where she worked with head coach Ray Leone, who has led numerous NCAA Division I programs, and assistant coach Tracey Leone, who went on to serve six seasons as head coach at Northeastern. Shields helped guide Harvard to consecutive Ivy League titles and NCAA Tournament berths in 2008 and 2009. She coached two Ivy League Rookies of the Year, 16 All-Conference selections and six All-Region choices.
 
Shields began her coaching career with a one-year stint as an assistant at UC Irvine under head coach April Heinrichs, who recently served eight years as Technical Director for the U.S. Women's National Teams.
 
In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Shields is an assistant with the U.S. Youth National Teams staff at various training camps and international competitions. She also serves as the liaison for the state of Missouri’s U.S. Soccer Training Center. Additionally, Shields was assistant goalkeeping coach for the Boston Breakers of Women's Professional Soccer under head coach Tony DiCicco in 2009; head coach of the Boston Bolts F.C. girls’ youth clubs for two years; and camp director/senior staff member of Soccerplus Goalkeeper School from 2006-11.
 
“During our search for a head coach, we engaged in exhaustive communication with National Team coaches, U.S. Soccer officials and NCAA College Cup coaches,” SLU Director of Athletics Chris May said at the time of Shields’ hiring. “They were unanimous in their support of Katie Shields as a leader who was ready to be a successful head coach.
 
“Katie is passionate about soccer and is committed to our department goals of educating student-athletes, competing at the highest level and building community,” May said. “We are confident she will develop a championship program by building trust, demonstrating a commitment to excellence and showing she cares about her student-athletes.”
 
“I am thrilled and honored to be the head women’s soccer coach at Saint Louis University,” Shields said upon her hiring. “I am grateful to the University’s administration for believing in me and my vision to lead the SLU women’s soccer program.
 
“Saint Louis University offers a unique combination of academic prestige, top-notch athletic facilities and a wealth of local soccer tradition, providing a world-class experience for our student-athletes.”
  
A goalkeeper, Shields enjoyed a distinguished playing career (2002-05) at Harvard. She garnered All-Ivy accolades all four seasons and was an All-Region honoree and team captain her senior campaign. Shields ranked fourth nationally in save percentage in 2005, set a school record for shutouts in a season and helped lead the 2004 Crimson to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Shields is a 2006 graduate of Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government.