Brian Shrum, a native of Western Pennsylvania, is now in his seventh season as head coach of the Youngstown State women's soccer program.

Shrum has breathed new life in the program over the last two seasons with back-to-back .500 seasons for the first time in program history, and a program best 16 wins over a two-year period.

Last season, Shrum led the Penguins to their second-straight .500 season with a 7-7-3 overall record. 

Chloe Weiland had a breakout campaign leading the Penguins with four goals and a team-high 11 total points while Taylor Berry scored three goals and added three assists.

Brooklynn Kirkpatrick posted another solid year in the net with seven victories, four shutouts and 80 saves. Kirkpatrick finished her career as the program's all-time leader with 18 wins, 14 shutouts, and a career 1.14 goals-against average, and ranked fifth all-time with 255 saves.

Jordan Evans was named to the All-Horizon League Second-Team while Emma Berdiner was named to the All-Freshman Team. Evans also became the first YSU player to receive an invitation to the player combine for the Tampa Bay Sun FC, a team in the USL Super League.

In 2022, Shrum guided the Penguins to the best season in program history and came one victory away from earning Youngstown State's first Horizon League Tournament Championship and berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Under his tutelage, the Penguins posted a program-best record of 9-8-3 and won a school-record five Horizon League games to finish 5-3-2 in league action. YSU also qualified for the Horizon League Tournament for the first time since 2014.

Youngstown State closed out the season strong winning seven of its last nine contests and advanced to the Horizon League Tournament Championship for the first time in school history.

Abriana Rondin was named to the All-Horizon League Second-Team while Berry was named to the All-Freshman Team. Rondin had three goals and two assists while Berry scored four goals and assisted on another.

Kirkpatrick was stellar in the net picking a single-season record nine wins and setting the single-season mark of eight shutouts. She also recorded 108 saves and had a goals-against average of 1.00.

Elis Klein Spindola led the Penguins with five goals, which were the most scored since 2019, and 11 points while Regan LaVigna tallied three goals with three assists for nine points. 

The Penguins also scored 20 goals with 57 points, which are the most since 2014 when YSU had 23 goals and 65 total points.

In 2021, Shrum guided the Penguins to one of their best performances since joining the Horizon League. YSU was in the thick of the postseason chase until the last week of the season. The Guins had 10 points in the league standings for the first time since 2014. YSU also set a school record for draws in a season with five, including four in HL play. Highlighting the season was a 1-0 win over Northern Kentucky and a tie with Horizon League runner-up Oakland.

The Penguins played nine Horizon League games in the spring of 2021 due to the cancellation of the fall season due to COVID-19.

As a team, the Penguins posted a 3.62 semester grade-point average and recorded a 3.71 GPA for the entire 2020-21 academic year.

In his second season at the helm, Shrum improved the Penguins' win total from the previous year and collected his first victory in the Horizon League. Shrum also earned his first all-league selection as freshman Marcella Sizer was named to the All-Horizon League Second-Team as well as the All-Freshman team. 

The Penguins finished the 2019 season with four wins and picked up a pair of league victories over Cleveland State and Detroit Mercy, marking the first time since 2015 that the Guins won multiple league games.

The season opening victory over Purdue Fort Wayne was the first win in an opener since 2016 and on October 2, the Penguins defeated Cleveland State 1-0 to snap a 23-game winless streak in the Horizon League. YSU closed out their 2019 home schedule with a 1-0 victory over Detroit Mercy, marking just the second win over the Titans in program history.

With only seven upper classman on the roster, Shrum turned to his 2019 freshman class who accounted for 31 of the team's 36 total points, 11 of the 12 goals and nine of the 12 assists. A trio of forwards in Marcella Sizer, Regan LaVigna and Addie Roman helped lead the way. Sizer finished with 13 points on five goals and three assists, LaVigna accumlated siz points with one goal and four assists and Roman had six points on three goals. LaVigna's four assists tied the freshman record set by Chantel Groom (2001) and Katie Hohman (2012). 

In his first year at Youngstown State, Shrum earned his first win on August 24, in a 1-0 win over Canisius from Farmers National Bank Field. During the season, goalkeeper Kate McEachern was named the Horizon League Defense Player of the Week on Oct. 8 for her five save, shutout performance against Oakland.  

Shrum, who served as an assistant coach then associate head coach at Duquesne from 2012-17, became the seventh head coach in program history.

Shrum spent the six seasons at Duquesne and helped the Dukes to their first NCAA Tournament appearance, Atlantic-10 Championship and a school record 12 wins in 2015. Over the last three seasons, Shrum helped Duquesne to an overall record of 34-22-7 and an 18-10-2 mark in Atlantic-10 play.

Shrum has developed 13 Atlantic-10 All-Conference players, including two-time all-conference selection and 2017 Atlantic-10 Midfielder of the Year Linnea Faccenda.

Prior to Duqusene, Shrum, who has been coaching in Western Pennsylvania since 1995, served as strength and conditioning coaching intern at California University of Pennsylvania. Simultaneously, he served as an assistant coach at St. Vincent College where he helped improve the Bearcats to a school-record tying 11-win season and a berth in the school's first ECAC South Championship tournament. He was instrumental in the development of St. Vincent's first First-Team All-American Elly Colvin.

Shrum graduated from California University of Pennsylvania in 2009 with a degree in sports management where he also earned a master's in exercise science with a concentration in sports enhancement and injury prevention. Shrum earned a doctorate from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions with a concentration in Human and Sports Performance in 2020. His focus was speed development in soccer within the principles of contextual application.

He is also an adjunct professor at Duquesne University where he teaches Integrated Sports Enhancement and Injury Prevention within the Athletic Training curriculum.

In addition to holding a USSF “A” license from the US Soccer Federation and National Youth License from the United States Youth Soccer Association, Shrum holds numerous strength and conditioning certifications: Performance Enhancement Specialist from the National Academy of Sports Medicine, Certified Speed and Explosion Specialist from the National Academy of Speed and Explosion and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength and Conditioning Association which is an accredited certification with the NCAA.

Shrum, and his wife, Lori, live in Belle Vernon, Pa.