Sarah Dacey named new girls soccer coach at Hingham

Sarah Dacey has made several stops during her expansive collegiate coaching career and she’s on the move once again with a new opportunity in hand.

This time it’s to the high school level as it was announced Thursday that Dacey will take the reins of the Hingham girls soccer team following the unceremonious exit of Ryan Puntiri who spent 13 years at the helm.

“I’m excited, that’s the biggest thing. I’m just excited to meet the team, to meet the girls and to get to know the community in Hingham,” said Dacey, a Framingham native who is in the process of moving to the south shore with her wife Mary-Frances Monroe and their two-year old daughter Sadie. “I know I’m taking over a really good team and I think that’s exciting to any coach at any level.”

The chance for the 44-year-old Dacey to preside over one of the premiere programs in the state came about when Hingham didn’t renew Puntiri’s contract late this offseason due to accusations from parents that Puntiri verbally abused his players.

As Dacey gets situated, she brings with her a vast amount of experience that spans over two decades as a player and a coach. A three-time national champion on the pitch at North Carolina, where she also starred in lacrosse, Dacey’s coaching journey began as an assistant at Boston College in 1998.

Since then, Dacey, who played professionally for the Boston Breakers, has coached in a myriad of places, including Providence College and the University of Tennessee before holding the head coaching spot at Babson College from 2005-2010.

Dacey most recently was at the helm for four seasons at Division 2 Barry University in Miami, Florida, where she went 45-15-5 during her tenure and was twice named the Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year.

“(She’s) a strong woman with tremendous experience both as a player and a coach, who really understood that we’re as interested in developing young women as we are soccer players,” said Hingham athletic director Jim Quatromoni. “I’ve not seen someone come into a high school coaching job that I’ve made the recommendation for the hire with the level of experience that she has.”

Even with the fall sports season in jeopardy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dacey is excited about the chance to steer the program into the future.

And after over 20 years of coaching in college, Dacey doesn’t feel the need to scratch that itch anymore and she’s content on making her stop at Hingham into a long-term stay.

“It’s a big shift in my career as I’ve been coaching college for quite some time,” Dacey said. “But I feel like now is the time to give back in a different way and to make sure that I help these young kids achieve their goals.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3f9cqAg