A former four-year player at USC who has extensive coaching experience, Shannon Cross returns for her seventh season as an assistant coach for the Cal State LA women’s soccer program after a sensational 2022 campaign highlighted by the program’s first California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament title since 2014.

Cross helped the Golden Eagles to an 11-4-6 overall record in 2022 that included a 5-1-5 mark in CCAA play. Cal State LA finished third in the conference, just three points out of first place. The Golden Eagles, as the No. 3 seed, then posted consecutive shutouts over No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona (2-0), No. 2 Stanislaus State (1-0) and tournament host and No. 1 seed Sonoma State (1-0) to win the conference crown for the first time since 2014.

Cal State LA was ranked 24th in the nation in the end-of-the-season poll by the United Soccer Coaches. The Golden Eagles were included in the final end-of-the-year rankings for the first time since 2014.

Cross has helped the Golden Eagles to an overall record of 45-33-15 in her first five seasons with the program. Cal State LA has reached the CCAA Tournament in all five seasons.

Cross helped the Golden Eagles get back on the field in 2021 after the 2020 season was canceled by COVID. Cal State LA had an extremely young squad in 2021, but finished the season with a 6-3-1 charge and qualified for the CCAA Tournament for an eighth straight season.

Prior to COVID, Cross helped the Golden Eagles to a historic 2019 season. The Golden Eagles picked up their first-ever road victory in the NCAA playoffs after advancing to the tournament for the first time since 2014. Cal State LA recorded a 9-8-1 overall record.

The Golden Eagles had a 10-6-2 record in 2018, including a 6-4-2 mark in conference play.

In her first year with the program, the Golden Eagles were 9-5-3 overall, including 7-3-2 in conference action, in 2017.

Cross also has been an effective coach at the high school level. She was an assistant coach at Harvard-Westlake School for 12 seasons, winning a CIF Regional championship in 2009, and has been an assistant coach for the past six years at Mira Costa High School, where she was an All-CIF player. Mira Costa won the CIF-SS championship for the 2019-20 season after making both the CIF-SS and Regional Finals the 2018-19 season.

She was also an assistant coach at the University of New Mexico in 2009-10 and helped the team win a Mountain West Conference title and make the first NCAA appearance in program history.

Cross had a successful playing career that included pro and semi-pro experiences. She was a professional player for the OC Waves in 2011 and she played for the Ajax American Women semi-pro team for six years before that, winning National Championships in 2007, 2008 and 2011.

Cross was a four-year player at USC, appearing in a total of 53 games with 14 starts. She had 11 goals and five assists during her playing career, including seven game-winning goals, which is still among the USC career leaders.

Previously, she was a lecturer in Kinesiology at Cal State Long Beach for more than two years after serving as a graduate teaching assistant in Kinesiology for two years.

Cross graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from USC and earned her Master’s degree in Kinesiology, Sport and Exercise Psychology from Cal State Long Beach. She completed her Doctor of Education (EdD) focused in Kinesiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.