NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head women's soccer coach Eric Golz has announced the hiring of Sarah Tompkins as an assistant coach Tuesday. Tompkins was hired to replace Ashlee Pistorius Slayback who departed the program to pursue other career opportunities in the corporate sector. Tompkins joins Brad Silvey on Golz's staff and will coach the ISU goalkeepers.
"This is an exciting opportunity for me to be hired at Illinois State," said Tompkins. "I am looking forward to working under someone like Coach Golz, who has so much experience, and it will be a great experience to grow professionally. The program has a great history and the potential to have an even brighter future."
Tompkins comes to ISU from Carson-Newman University, where she served as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons. While at C-N, Tompkins worked with the Eagles' goalkeepers and helped in the program's recruiting efforts. During her two seasons at Carson-Newman, the Eagles orchestrated the biggest two-season turnaround in NCAA history. After a 3-14 season in 2014, the Eagles finished 19-3 in 2015 while winning regular season and conference tournament championships and advancing to the Sweet 16.
Tompkins' coaching played a large part in Carson-Newman's success, as the Eagles' freshman goalkeeper, Jessica Fraiture, was named to the 2015 SAC All-Tournament Team.
"Sarah brings a good deal of both playing and coaching experience to our program, having both competed on and having coached for championship winning programs," said Golz. "In her work at Carson-Newman, she helped develop a nationally competitive program while having a large hand in coaching, operations and recruiting. Her goalkeeping experience as both a player and a coach will have an immediate impact on our program."
Tompkins enjoyed a successful playing career at Carson-Newman and Tennessee-Martin before moving into coaching. A two-year star at Carson-Newman, Tompkins made 125 saves in a single-season, which is third all-time in program history.
At UT-Martin, Tompkins made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament first round as a redshirt junior and was a part of back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference championship teams.
A native of Franklin, Wisconsin, Tompkins led her team to three regional championships and was a two-time All-North Division selection. Tompkins holds an NSCAA Goalkeeping Level 1 and 2 diploma along with a USSF E License.
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