The Kanela File

Personal Information

Birthday

February 3

Hometown

Wantagh, N.Y.

Education

West Virginia, 2007 (Bachelor's)

West Virginia, 2009 (Master's)

Playing Career

West Virginia, 2002-05

West Virginia Illusion, 2008

Coaching History

2007-09

West Virginia -

Volunteer Assistant

2009

West Virginia Illusion -

Assistant Coach

2010-16

West Virginia -

Assistant Coach

2017-present

West Virginia -

Associate Head Coach

Marisa Kanela enters her 14th season with the Mountaineer women’s soccer team and her fifth campaign as WVU’s associate head coach.

A former All-Big East midfielder, Kanela has translated her experience on the field to success with the Mountaineers with conference titles in nine of the 13 seasons she has spent on the coaching staff, including five consecutive Big 12 Conference regular-season crowns (2012-16). WVU also qualified for the NCAA Tournament for 11 straight seasons from 2010-20 under Kanela’s guidance. In the last six seasons, the squad has advanced to the NCAA College Cup Final (2016), the NCAA Quarterfinals (2015), the NCAA Third Round (2017, 2019) and the NCAA Second Round (2018, 2020, 2022).

Kanela was part of another conference title in 2022, as the Mountaineers became the Big 12 Tournament champions after a 1-0 win over TCU in Round Rock, Texas. The title marked WVU’s 10th Big 12 title and 18th conference championship overall, with Kanela playing a role in 10 of those conference crowns as either a player or a coach.

West Virginia received numerous conference, regional and national awards for its efforts in 2022, in large part due to Kanela’s expertise on and off the field. Five Mountaineers earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Teams. Kayza Massey and Jordan Brewster led the way on the All-Big 12 First Team, while Gabrielle Robinson, AJ Rodriguez and Dilary Heredia-Beltran were named to the Second Team. Massey also was tabbed the Big 12’s Co-Goalkeeper of the Year.

Brewster, Massey and Rodriguez also received All-Midwest Region honors by the United Soccer Coaches, as Brewster went on to earn her third consecutive All-America honor from the organization. In keeping with a tradition to build and mold Mountaineers into professional and world-class athletes, Robinson and Brewster signed professional contracts at season’s end.

Academically, six Mountaineers were named Academic All-District selections by the College Sports Communicators, headlined by Brewster who went on to be named a CSC Academic All-American. West Virginia placed 13 student-athletes on the Fall Academic All-Big 12 Team, and Brewster also was named the Big 12 Conference Women's Soccer Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year.

In 2021, Kanela helped West Virginia rank as high as No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll and finish with a 10-5-5 mark overall to extend its streak of at least 10 wins or more to 22 straight seasons. The Mountaineer defense recorded 11 shutouts on the year, including a pair of clean sheets in the Big 12 Championship. WVU’s nine shutouts in the regular season marked the most since 2017 (11), while the squad’s 11 total clean sheets were the most since 2018 (12).

Star defender Jordan Brewster earned her second career All-America selection by United Soccer Coaches to become the 14th player in program history to earn a pair of All-America accolades in her career. Four Mountaineers earned a spot on the 2021 All-Big 12 Teams, including Brewster on the first team, Nicole Payne and Kayza Massey on the second team and Dilary Heredia-Beltran on the all-freshman team.

Overcoming adversity in one of the most unusual seasons in the team’s history due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mountaineers battled to a 10-3-1 overall record in 2020-21. The team’s schedule was split between the fall and spring, with conference play taking place in the fall and nonconference contests pushed to the spring. Following an undefeated spring that featured wins over top-10 opponents in No. 5 Duke and No. 10 Virginia, WVU qualified for its 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

Kanela and the Mountaineers ranked as high as No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, and the squad extended its win streak over top-10 foes to 15 of the last 16 seasons. West Virginia also has now won at least 10 games for 21-straight seasons. Jordan Brewster was named the 2020 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, as she became the fifth Mountaineer to collect the award in the last six seasons. Brewster, Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel and Alina Stahl were selected to the All-Big 12 First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Team, while Brewster went on to be honored as a United Soccer Coaches All-American.

Despite playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules, WVU finished 12-8-2 in 2019. The squad advanced to the NCAA Tournament Third Round, thanks to a 2-0 win at No. 25 Georgetown in the first round and a 106th-minute goal to top Central Connecticut State, 1-0, in the second round. In all, 10 Mountaineer opponents reached the NCAA Tournament. West Virginia eventually bowed out in the third round with a loss to Washington State.

Ranked as high as No. 11 in the national polls, Jordan Brewster and Rylee Foster earned All-Big 12 Second Team and United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Second Team honors, while a pair of freshmen – Enzi Broussard and Nicole Payne – were placed on the All-Big 12-Freshman Team.

Kanela and WVU returned to champion status in 2018, as the Mountaineers claimed the Big 12 Soccer Championship title in November with a 3-0 run through the league tournament, including a 3-0 title-clinching victory over No. 9 Baylor. The championship was the team’s 17th conference title and ninth in Big 12 play.

WVU finished the season with a 15-4-4 mark and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Nationally ranked seven weeks throughout the season, the Mountaineers peaked at No. 8 and finished the year at No. 14.

The Mountaineer offense produced 46 goals and 35 assists in 2018, with forward Sh’Nia Gordon finishing first on the team with 20 points, including a team-high nine goals and four game-winning scores. Forwards Lauren Segalla and Hannah Abraham finished second and third, respectively, with 14 points (5 G, 4 A) and 12 points (4 G, 4 A).

For the second consecutive season, a conference-best eight Mountaineers grabbed All-Big 12 honors, including a first-team accolade for Gordon and second-team recognition for midfielder Grace Cutler. Midfielder Addison Clark was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team. Gordon also was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region First Team.

Following the 2018 campaign, four Mountaineers made waves in the professional leagues, with Gordon (FC Metz) and defender Easther Mayi Kith (Montpellier) signing professional contracts and defender Bianca St. Georges (Chicago Red Stars) and Cutler (Houston Dash) being drafted in the 2019 NWSL College Draft.

In addition to her on-field assistance, Kanela also oversees the academic, audio/video, scouting, compliance, camps and clinics and community service efforts of the team.

A program-record 13 Mountaineers were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Soccer Team in 2018, with all but one of the honorees landing on the Academic All-Big 12 First Team, also a program-best mark. Additionally, Bianca St. Georges was named the Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year for Division I women’s soccer, the second Mountaineer in six seasons to earn the nation’s top academic award. St. Georges also was named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America First Team, while Mayi Kith was named to the third team. WVU has had at least one Academic All-America in each of the last six seasons.

Kanela also steers the program’s vision to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research. WVU women’s soccer has raised more than $140,000 over the last 14 years for the Betty Puskar Breast Cancer Fund.

In 2017, the Mountaineer attack tallied 40 goals and 38 assists en route to a 16-4-3 record and the program’s third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament Third Round. WVU opened the year ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, the program’s first-ever preseason No. 1 ranking, and did not rank lower than No. 10 all year. The Mountaineers spent four weeks within the top five of the poll and ended the season at No. 10.

Forward Michaela Abam paced the Mountaineer attack with 10 goals and 23 points and ended the season ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Big 12 Conference, respectively. Abam also ranked No. 3 in game-winning goals (4). Additionally, Gordon ranked No. 3 in the Big 12 in assists (7) and No. 10 in points (15).

A Big 12 Conference First Team honoree and a 2017 Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy semifinalist, Abam pushed her career All-America count to three with a pair of second-team honors from the United Soccer Coaches and the Senior CLASS Award. The Mountaineers earned a conference-best eight All-Big 12 honors, including All-Big 12 Freshman Team recognition for Segalla.

Following the 2017 campaign, Abam and defender Amandine Pierre-Louis were drafted No. 4 and No. 6 overall by Sky Blue FC at the 2018 NWSL College Draft.

In 2016, Kanela helped guide the Mountaineers to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament, as her alma mater strung together a program-record 23 wins in its best season to date. The squad swept the Big 12 Conference regular-season and championship titles for the third time in four years and also spent each week nationally ranked, including eight weeks at No. 1, the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking. Additionally, the Mountaineers posted a nation- and program-best 18 shutouts.

Abam was one of three Mountaineers to collect a combined five All-America honors, as she was named to the NSCAA All-America Second Team. The team’s leading scorer for the third consecutive season with a career-high 33 points (12 G, 9 A), she also was named the co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, the second Mountaineer in four seasons to claim the honor. Abam ranked No. 1 in the conference in points, goals and game-winners (5), and No. 2 in assists; she ranked No. 24 nationally in points, No. 25 in game-winning goals, No. 32 in goals and No. 34 in assists.

Including Abam’s first-team award, six Mountaineers earned a combined seven All-Big 12 accolades.

Kanela also was integral in the mentoring of four-time NSCAA All-American Kadeisha Buchanan. The defender collected a slew of awards in 2016, including the MAC Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy. She also was named the 2016 espnW and TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year, won the Honda Cup Award for women’s soccer and was named to the Senior CLASS All-America First Team. She signed a professional contract with Olympique Lyonnais.

At season’s end, Kanela, alongside head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown and senior associate head coach Lisa Stoia, earned the NSCAA Central Regional Staff of the Year award.

Kanela helped the Mountaineers return to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals in 2015. Along the way, WVU secured its fourth consecutive Big 12 Conference regular-season title, collected 19 victories, scored a season-record 61 goals and posted 15 shutouts. The Mountaineers finished the year nationally ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA Poll. Including its final ranking, WVU was ranked within the top 10 the final 15 weeks of the season and peaked at No. 2, a ranking it held for two weeks.

A pair of forwards helped the Mountaineers set the goals record, as Kailey Utley and Abam paced the squad with a career-best 12 goals each, the 10th-best single-season total in program history. The duo was the second pair in program history to score 12 or more goals in one season. Utley finished the year with a team-best 30 points (12 G, 6 A). She also ranked No.1 in the Big 12, No. 4 nationally, in game-winners (7), No. 2 in goals (12) and No. 4 in assists (6).

Utley and Abam landed on the 2015 All-Big 12 First Team, and Gordon was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. In total, WVU earned a conference-best 11 All-Big 12 honors.

WVU pushed its Big 12 title count to five in 2014 and ended the year on a program-record 19-match unbeaten streak. The Mountaineers won the Big 12’s regular season and championship titles and again advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Under Kanela’s tutelage, Abam was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. She paced the team with 16 points and eight goals, the second-best goal total for a Mountaineer freshman, and finished the season ranked No. 4 in the conference in goals and No. 6 in points. Abam was one of nine Mountaineers to earn an All-Big 12 honor.

Kanela helped guide Frances Silva to Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2013; in total, WVU secured eight All-Big 12 awards. Additionally, she oversaw a Mountaineer frontline that tallied a Big 12-best 141 points on 47 goals.

WVU went unbeaten in Big 12 play (7-0-1) in 2012, marking only the sixth time a Big 12 team has won the regular season without a loss. West Virginia’s seven All-Big 12 selections were the most of any conference program, including Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Bry McCarthy.

Kanela helped WVU win back-to-back Big East Championships in its final two seasons in the league. The Mountaineers earned 11 all-conference honors in 2010 and 2011, including 2011 Big East Rookie of the Year Kate Schwindel.

Kanela spent three seasons (2007-09) as a volunteer coach with the Mountaineers, assisting Izzo-Brown and her staff in a variety of roles on and off the field. She witnessed the program’s first Big East Championship title and Elite Eight appearance in 2007 while assisting with administrative tasks, team travel, on-campus visits, game day management, academic tutoring, practice sessions and other duties.

Since 2005, Kanela has been active in the state’s youth soccer programs, coaching U-10 through U-18 MUSC (Mountaineer United Soccer Club) teams. She also worked as the state’s Region 1 coach for the West Virginia Olympic Development Program for four years.

Kanela spent one season with the West Virginia Illusion, a former member of the W-League, as an assistant coach. She also spent time as a player/coach with the Illusion during its inaugural season and worked out at the 2008 Women’s Professional Soccer Combine in Tampa.

She served as a youth soccer coach and personal trainer at Pro Performance Rx in Morgantown from 2006-08. At Pro, Kanela ran private soccer lessons, conducted clinics for players ages 4-12 and instituted a summer soccer camp program.

Kanela holds Level I & II regional and state goalkeeping licenses and National Youth Soccer Association coaching licenses. A member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) since 2007, she has her USSF “C” license.

A four-year letterwinner from 2002-05, Kanela participated in four NCAA Tournaments at WVU while being named an NSCAA Scholar All-American, Big East Academic All-Star, Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll honoree and the Big East Institutional Female Scholar-Athlete.

Upon graduation, she ranked in the school’s top 10 for career goals, assists and points and led the 2004 and 2005 teams in scoring. A two-time NSCAA all-region selection, Kanela earned All-Big East First Team honors in 2005, second team honors in 2004 and was an all-rookie team pick in 2002. The former New York State Gatorade Player of the Year was team captain of the 2005 WVU soccer team.

A native of Wantagh, New York, Kanela earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education/health education from WVU in 2007 and a master’s degree in physical education/teacher education in 2009.