Danielle Mendez

Danielle Mendez was introduced as the first full time assistant women's soccer coach prior to the 2022 season. She brings seven years of college coaching experience at the NCAA Division I and III levels to the program.

Most recently, Mendez spent the previous three seasons at St. Olaf College as an assistant coach working with goalkeepers where she was also responsible for the program's social media presence along with a key hand in the program's recruiting efforts.

Her coaching career began at the University of North Dakota in 2017 where she helped the Fighting Hawks reach their highest RPI as a program, achieved the program's most wins in the Big Sky Conference along with the highest-ever finish in the league. Working with the goalkeepers, she implemented a program that produced the program's first-ever Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year.

Following her time at UND (2017-18), she continued her career at the University of Montana (2018-19), once again working with goalkeepers and working towards a 2018 Big Sky Conference championship.

She's coached all-conference goalies at each of her previous stops, and also has experience locally at the club level at Salvo Soccer Club (2021-present), Eagan Wave Soccer Club (2019-20) and Burnsville Fire Soccer Club (2014-16).

Mendez earned her degree from St. Catherine University in exercise sports science with a minor in psychology in 2016 and completed a master's degree from the University of Minnesota in sports and exercise science in 2022.

She was a four-year starter as a college keeper at St. Kate's, setting the program record for goals against average (1.45), shutouts (19) and registered the second-most saves in program history (274). She was a senior captain and holds the distinction of fewest goals allowed in a season (16). Following her college playing career, she played at the semi-pro level for the Minnesota Twinstars where she was the goalkeeper in 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Her coaching career includes a Coaching E Liscence (2014), US Soccedr Grassroots 11v11 Liscence (2022) and Goalkeeping Level 1 Diploma from the United Soccer Coaches (2017).