Emily Ryan enters her third season at Wartburg in 2024. In her first season at Wartburg, Sarah Campbell was named a United Soccer Coaches Association First Team All-American (First time in program history), four athletes were named All-Region selections and six players earned All-Conference honors.

 

In 2022, Wartburg earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where the Knights hosted rounds one and two. 

 

Ryan came to Wartburg from fellow American Rivers Conference school the University of Dubuque where she served as the assistant coach for the Spartans. She was the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville from 2017 to 20, after starting as an assistant coach in 2016. Under Ryan's direction, the Pioneers had the program's best season in school history in 2018 with a program-high fourth-place regular season finish in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), In 19 games, the Pioneers recorded 48 goals (a 21-goal improvement from 2017), 30 assists, and five shutouts, while shattering four program records. Two Pioneers earned All-WIAC honors, and one was named United Soccer Coaches Third-team All-North Region.

 

Ryan was a four-year member of the women's soccer program at UW-Platteville as a midfielder and graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology and health and human performance in 2014. She holds her USSF 'D' License and USA Weightlifting Level 1 certification.

 

Assistant Coach | Alex Place Thomas

Alex Place Thomas enters her first season with the women's soccer program in 2024.

 

Place Thomas is the current head coach for Cedar Falls High School girl's soccer team and has led the program since March of 2018. She earned Mississippi Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons for the Tigers in 2021 and 2022 as well as Iowa 3A District East Coach of the Year in 2022.

 

The Cornell College graduate has served as a seasonal master head coach for 10 years at Berkshire Soccer Academy for Girls in Massachusetts. Place Thomas also spent over six years as the head coach for Iowa Rush North and has Division III assistant coach experience at Grinnell College from 2019-21.

 

As a student athlete, Place Thomas was a four-year starter for the Cornell College Rams, which included two seasons as the team captain.

 

Place Thomas earned a bachelor's degree in both biochemistry and molecular biology from Cornell College before moving on to earn a master of science degree in biology from the University of Northern Iowa. She has continued her education with professional development master's credits from Idaho State University.