The sixth head coach in history of the women’s soccer program, Kortney Rhoades enters her seventh season at the helm in 2022.

In her first season with the program in 2016, she led the Hornets to four wins, the third best single-season mark in team history. Three of her first-year wins were shutouts vs. Division I opponents Wagner, Sacred Heart and Mount St. Mary’s.

During the 2018 season, Delaware State junior Jade Jamison set a school record with seven goals. That same year, the Hornets fired off 137 shots, the fifth-highest total in team history; and 74 shots on goal, ranking sixth all-time.

During the 2019-20 academic year, the women’s soccer team was fifth among DSU teams with a 3.64 cumulative grade-point average for the spring semester; and seventh for the full year with a 3.32 GPA. In addition, each eligible women’s soccer player qualified for the MEAC All-Academic team during the 2019-20 school year.

Prior to arriving in Dover, Rhoades served two seasons as an assistant at Division II Colorado Mesa. 

Rhoades was a standout player at Padua Academy in Wilmington, Del., where she was a four-time All-State selection and led the squad to a pair of state titles.  Her prep career also featured a stint with the FC Delco Fury club team.  Serving as a team captain for three seasons, she helped the squad win an astonishing six EPYSA State Cup titles.     

Collegiately, Rhoades played her freshman season at St. Joseph’s (Pa.), appearing in 17 games and making 13 starts as a midfielder.  She managed to total three goals and a team-leading four assists for 10 points. 

Despite her early college success, Rhoades transferred to the University of South Carolina, where she made an immediate impact.  Appearing in all 25 games, including 24 starts in her first season, Rhoades registered three goals and two assists for eight points, as the Gamecocks went to win their first-ever Southeast Conference Tournament title. That year, she also helped lead the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 to highlight the best season in program history.  Rhoades went on to serve as a team captain during her senior year in 2011, as the Gamecocks won their lone regular season SEC Championship. Rhoades also garnered a plethora of academic honors while receiving her bachelor’s degree in Public Health, highlighted by receiving Third Team All-Nation Consortium for Academics and Sports honors in 2011 as the only soccer SEC player to make the list.  

“One of my best attributes is that I played at a level that not everyone gets to play at.  I experienced winning championships, playing in the NCAA Tournament and going to the Sweet 16.  Getting that experience as a player I can say this is what I did and this is what it took to get there.”

Rhoades’ coaching background also includes serving as a student assistant with South Carolina in 2012, in addition to a similar role with Padua Academy before heading to Colorado Mesa.