Iona College announced on Jan. 11 that Todd Plourde will be the new head coach of the women’s soccer team.

“We are very enthusiastic to have Todd join the Iona College family,” Iona Athletic Director Matthew Glovaski said in a press release on ICGaels.com. “Gael Nation can look forward to a very successful coach who will bring his winning culture into the women’s soccer program. We look forward to Todd’s experience leading to Iona’s success in the near future.”

The decision came four months after former Head Coach Sarah Brady resigned during the middle of the 2018 season, in which the Gaels went 3-13-2 and 1-7-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

“Thank you President Nyre, Matt Glovaski and the search committee for trusting me with the position of head women’s soccer coach at this wonderful institution,” Plourde said in the press release. “I will do everything in my power not only to make the Gaels an elite team, but to ensure each of our student-athletes have a positive experience.”

Plourde, who was a former men’s soccer player at Quinnipiac, has spent 14 years coaching Division I soccer. He became an assistant coach at Yale in 2006 after spending two years as an assistant at Manhattan College, in which he helped the Jaspers go from a two-win team to 12 wins. He then spent the next 12 years of his NCAA coaching career at Yale.

Yale had nine seasons with a winning record and placed in the top three of the Ivy League standings five times while Plourde worked there.

“Todd Plourde is an exceptional leader and an extraordinary person,” former Yale Athletic Director Tom Beckett said in the same release. “His people skills are second to none. He has helped in great measure to build an outstanding soccer program for Yale. I’m very confident he’ll do the same for the Iona Gaels.”

Plourde also helped out in different leagues and soccer organizations like the Elite Clubs National League, the Connecticut Olympic Development Program and the Elm City Express, a professional soccer team.

“Todd is one of the best recruiters in the country which will help him turn around the Iona program quickly,” Georgetown women’s soccer Head Coach David Nolan said in the release. “His experience coaching at Yale and in the club world will provide him with the tools necessary to make an immediate impact in the MAAC. The future is definitely bright for the Gaels.”