Staff reports
The Franklin College women’s soccer team finished one victory shy of a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament last fall.
This year, the Grizzlies are hoping that their new coach can help get them over the hump.
Cristin Allen, most recently an assistant at DePauw, was formally introduced as Franklin’s head coach Wednesday. She replaces Justin Sullivan, who is now coaching at Marian University.
“I am confident she is the right person to lead our outstanding program to its next level of success,” athletics director Kerry Prather said of Allen.
Before coming to DePauw, Allen was the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Vanderbilt from 2005 to 2010. She has worked with the Olympic Development Program and also has several years of club coaching experience.
An all-conference performer as a player at Belmont University before graduating in 2002, Allen was inducted into the Bruins’ Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.
At Franklin, she inherits a team that has won a school-record 16 matches in each of the past two seasons and reached the final of the HCAC tournament three straight times. The Grizzlies return a great deal of talent, including junior forward Maddie Fleet, who was a third-team All-American last fall.
“Our vision for the women’s soccer program is to create a culture of strong, selfless leadership, where the foundation of our program will be to compete with an unparalleled enthusiasm,” Allen said. “We will focus on the details and challenge each other to become better players and, in turn, better people in the process. … I cannot wait to begin this journey with our team.”
