Kent State University at East Liverpool Women's Soccer

One of the longest-tenured coaches in the Mid-American Conference, Rob Marinaro has been part of the Kent State’s women’s soccer staff since the program’s inception in 1997 and is in his 25th season as head coach of the Golden Flashes. The three-time MAC Coach of the Year has the second-most wins in conference history and owns a 255-217-61 record, including a 148-121-33 mark in league play. Marinaro has led Kent State to one MAC Tournament championship, three MAC regular season titles and three MAC East Division crowns during his tenure. Additionally, he has overseen the development of two All-Americans, 14 All-Region honorees and 48 All-MAC selections. In 2018, Marinaro captured the 200th win in school history and earned his 200th win at the helm of the program against Bowling Green in 2022. The success does not end on the field for Marinaro’s teams, as the women’s soccer team regularly posts one of Kent State Athletics’ highest term grade-point averages. The Flashes have been among the nation’s elite academically as noted by 10 NSCAA Team Academic Awards since 2007, which included a national Top-20 GPA for four consecutive seasons from 2009-12. Marinaro’s student-athletes have earned three CoSIDA Academic All-American honors, 28 MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete honors and over 150 Academic All-MAC honors. He led his team to back-to-back MAC semifinal appearances in 2023 and 2024, compiling a record of 22-15-5. 2023 included two first team All-MAC selections in Kelsey Salop

Heidi Marshall was hired to the staff of the Kent State University Soccer team as an assistant coach in the spring of 2025. Marshall is a program alum and re...

Jenna Hellstrom was hired as an assistant coach of the Kent State soccer program in March 2023, and was promoted to Associate Head Coach in the spring of 2025. Hellstrom is a former member of the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team who was called in as recently as February 2023 when she played for the Canadians in the She Believes Cup. She was a member of the 2019 World Cup team that reached the Round of 16, and has had stints at the club level with Rosengard, Djurgarden, Vaxjo, Washington Spirit, Orebro FC, and Dijon FC. Prior to her professional career, Hellstrom had an illustrious career at Kent State, finishing as the program's all-time leader in goals (37), assists (33), and points (107). She became the first All-American in Kent State soccer history when she earned NSCAA Second Team All-American honors in 2016. As a senior in 2016, Hellstrom led the Mid-American Conference in points (38) and assists (10) and was second in goals with 14. She finished the season ranked seventh in the nation in points per game (2.0), 11th in assists per game (0.53) and 14th in goals per game (0.74), being named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year as well as earning First Team All-MAC, NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region First Team and MAC All-Tournament Team honors During her junior season in 2015, Hellstrom had ten multiple-point games, scoring at least one point in 14 of 19 contests en route to being named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-MAC. She led the conference in