Cunningham Added to Soccer Coaching Staff

HOUSTON – The University of Houston women's soccer program expanded on Monday, as Head Coach Jaime Frias announced the hiring of Jaelyn Cunningham as assistant coach.

"Jaelyn brings an exceptional soccer background to the University of Houston. She is someone that cares deeply about the student-athlete experience and will strive to create an environment of excellence within the team," Frias said.

"We align philosophically on how we should develop our players and team for future success. I'm excited for Jaelyn to come in and add new dimensions to our staff. She will make great contributions to help build our team moving forward."

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to join Jaime and Fleur [Benatar] on staff. There is an infectious momentum around the program, department and city. I'm excited to become a part of it," Cunningham said.

Cunningham joins the Cougars after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Toledo. During her first season, Cunningham helped Toledo to a 10-6-4 overall record, its best since 2017. The Rockets finished sixth in the MAC with a 5-4-2 mark and reached the MAC Tournament for the first time since winning the championship in 2017.

She worked primarily with goalkeepers, including Emma Boutorwick, who recorded nine solo shutouts and one combined shutout with Adrianna Brewer, good for the second most shutouts in a single season by a Toledo team.

Prior to Toledo, Cunningham served as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Queens (N.C.) University. During her time with the Royals, sophomore Erica Turner earned first-team all-conference honors after posting a 5-1-1 record and a .903 save percentage. Turner also was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions.

Cunningham also worked with goalkeepers at the Charlotte Soccer Academy and the No. 1-ranked Providence Day High School's girls' soccer team during her time in Charlotte, N.C.

The Reynoldsburg, Ohio, native played collegiately at Illinois (2016-19) where she earned second-team All-Big 10 honors as a junior. During that season, she posted an 11-7-1 mark, a 1.02 goals-against average and career-best .772 save percentage en route to posting six shutouts. Cunningham was also named Illinois' Team MVP in 2017 and 2018 and ranks second in Fighting Illini history with 106 saves.

Cunningham spent two years in the Women's Premier Soccer League. She played for two league champions, the Seattle Sounders (2018) and the Chicago Red Stars (2019); and won the WPSL's Golden Glove award in 2019.

A Columbus, Ohio native, Cunningham graduated with her bachelor's degree in marketing from Illinois in 2019.

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