Courtesy: Zolton Cohen

KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan Director of Athletics Kathy Beauregard announced today the promotion of Suzie Grech from interim head coach to head coach of the Western Michigan women’s soccer team.

“We are very excited to make this announcement,” said Beauregard. “Coach Grech has proven to be a very valuable asset to our women’s soccer program and to this department.  We appreciate all the work she has done with our student-athletes and wish her and her coaching staff much success in the future,”

“I’d like to thank Kathy Beauregard and Western Michigan for giving me this opportunity,” said Grech. “I am looking forward continuing coaching the ladies and striving to win a MAC Championship and a NCAA College Cup birth.”

As interim head coach, Grech led the Broncos to a 6-8-5 overall record and a 3-4-3 record in the MAC. The Broncos lost to eventual MAC Tournament Champions, Central Michigan, in the first round of the tournament. Under Grech, WMU improved its defense by shrinking its goals against average from 1.35 in 2008 to 1.00 in 2009. WMU had two student-athletes receiving All-MAC honors with Nikolette Rivera being named Second Team All-MAC and Anina Cicerone named to the MAC All-Freshman team.

The Philadelphia, Pa., native arrived in Kalamazoo after spending the 2007 preseason at Michigan as a volunteer assistant coach. She also served as the assistant girl’s soccer coach at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School during the 2007 season.

Prior to her stint around Ann Arbor, Grech was an assistant at Marshall for two seasons, acting as the goalkeeper coach. With the Thundering Herd, she was in charge of technical and tactical training of the goalies and assisted with on-field instruction. She also was highly involved in recruiting, travel and other administrative duties.

Grech played at Michigan from 2000-2003, and left the women’s soccer program as the all-time leader in goals-against average and shutouts, ending her career with a record of 36-18-3. Her Michigan teams made four NCAA appearances in 2000, 2001, 2002 (Elite Eight) and 2003 (Sweet Sixteen), and in 2001, she earned Second Team All-Big Ten and All-Great Lakes Region honors.

Grech also participated internationally for Spain, where she earned a silver medal at the European Women’s U-18 Championships in 1999 and 2000. She garnered six International Caps with the full national team, and 14 International Caps with the U-18 national team. From 2003 to 2005, she coached at Brighton (Mich.) High School and served as an assistant coach for the University of Michigan’s Soccer Club.

Grech graduated from Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 2005 and received her master’s degree in sports administration from Marshall in 2006. She holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National “B” License and has a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) advanced national goalkeeping diploma.