Sept. 15, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame women’s soccer head coach Theresa Romagnolo will be inducted into the Snohomish County (Wash.) Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 17. The fifth-annual ceremony will take place in Everett, Wash., at the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center at Comcast Arena.
Romagnolo, an Edmonds, Wash., native and Lakeside High School graduate, is one of six athletes being inducted into the Snohomish County Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and the first-ever women’s soccer honoree. The public and a 25-member sports hall of fame committee chose this year’s 2014 class.
The Snohomish County Sports Hall of Fame recognizes and honors athletes, coaches, teams and/or special individuals who have distinguished themselves as outstanding contributors to their sport or vocation on the state, national, and/or international stage and have brought acclaim to both themselves and Snohomish County.
At Lakeside High School, Romagnolo, under her maiden name of Theresa Wagner, excelled in three sports — soccer, basketball and tennis — during her prep career. She ranks as the all-time 2A leader in goals scored in the state of Washington, and while at the University of Washington, picked up all-Pac 10 honors four times, earning first-team accolades as a senior. A midfielder for the Huskies, she was instrumental in leading her 2000 squad to the program’s first Pac-10 crown and first-ever No. 1 national ranking.
Romagnolo remains among the top five on numerous UW career statistical charts, including points (80 – 2nd), goals (27 – tied-3rd) and assists 26 – 3rd), while her four-goal/nine-point match at Oregon and four-assist outing against Eastern Washington (both in her senior season in 2000) remain tops in Husky women’s soccer history. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Washington in 2001.
Romagnolo went on to enjoy a three-year career with the San Jose CyberRays of the Women’s United Soccer Association (the first of two leagues that preceded the NWSL), helping the Bay Area franchise to the WUSA title in 2001. Among her teammates in San Jose were former Notre Dame All-American and 2001 WUSA Goalkeeper of the Year LaKeysia Beene (’00) and former Fighting Irish all-region defender Kelly Lindsey (’01).
Now in her first year as head coach of the Fighting Irish, Romagnolo led her team to a 5-2-1 start in non-conference play to begin the 2014 season. Prior to her tenure at Notre Dame, she spent the previous three seasons as the head coach at Dartmouth College. Before landing her first head-coaching job with the Big Green, she served as an assistant coach at Stanford for three seasons (2008-10) and at San Diego for five campaigns (2003-07).
The five other athletes being inducted on Wednesday include Erik “Otto” Olson, a former three-time state champion and NCAA Division I All-American in the sport of wrestling; Jeff Pahukoa, an all-state offensive and defensive lineman who played football at Washington under legendary coach Don James and six years in the National Football League; Bret Summers, a former professional boxer with more than 400 professional bouts to his credit and the 1976 U.S. National Amateur champion; Matt Surina, a five-time Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) national champion and 2005 National PBA Senior Tour winner, and Richard “Rusty” Donald Wailes, a rower at Yale University and a member of the gold-medal winning eight-man U.S. team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
Also being inducted are two coaches — Magaret “Maggie” King, a former high school volleyball, basketball, tennis and track and field coach for 24 years and a pioneer and champion for women’s high school sports in the state of Washington, and Joe Richer, a former basketball and golf standout in high school and a two-sport letterman in both of those sports at Western Washington. He also spent 30 years as teacher, coach and counselor at Everett High School, his alma mater, and led the boys’ basketball teams there to three state crowns.
Romagnolo’s coaching duties with her Fighting Irish squad this week will prevent her from attending the Wednesday evening event. Notre Dame hosts North Carolina to open Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play on Saturday at 7 p.m. (ET) at Alumni Stadium, with live video coverage available on ESPN3.
To purchase a season pass or single-match tickets for the 2014 Notre Dame women’s soccer season, call the Murnane Family Athletics Ticket Office at (574) 631-7356, visit the official Notre Dame athletics ticketing web site, UND.com/tickets or stop by the Murnane Family Athletics Ticket Office windows during normal business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday). Tickets also can be purchased at Alumni Stadium on match days.
For more information on the Fighting Irish women’s soccer program, follow Notre Dame on Twitter (@NDsoccernews or @NDSoccer), like the Fighting Irish on Facebook (facebook.com/NDWomenSoccer) or sign up for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system through the “Fan Center” pulldown menu on the main page at UND.com.