Umpqua Community College Brings In High Level Women's Soccer Coaches

Umpqua Community College has hired two new co-head coaches to lead their new women's soccer program that was created this year. Whitney Pitalo and Sam Adelman will be the new co-Head Coaches for RiverHawk Women's Soccer. The program was supposed to begin exhibition play this fall but due to Covid-19 restrictions the season was pushed back until spring of 2021. The program is supposed to begin NWAC conference play starting in the fall of 2021. “We are very fortunate to have two highly qualified and skilled coaches to lead our new Women’s Soccer team," UCC Athletic Director Craig Jackson said. "With their knowledge of the collegiate and prep soccer landscape, paired with their ability to teach the game, our expectations are to build a very successful program right away.” Pitalo who is also the Assistant Director of Athletics at UCC, started coaching in 2016 after playing D1 collegiate soccer at the University of Southern California. During her time as a USC Trojan, she was awarded the PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Week in 2014. She spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Willamette University's women's soccer team. In 2019 Pitalo was named the head coach of the West Salem Titans before becoming a RiverHawk. At the conclusion of that season, she was named the 6A Coach of the Year Award in Oregon, the Mountain Valley Conference Coach of the Year and her team broke multiple school records in goals scored, wins and shutouts. Adelman played at Willamette University and also went on coach at his alma mater after some time with the Portland Thorns and other professional teams.