Women's Soccer | 8/21/2026 2:09:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY – Legendary Nazareth Women's Soccer Head Coach Gail Mann announced earlier this week that the 2026 season will be her last behind the benches as she ventures into retirement. In conjunction with the retirement announcement, Athletic Director Pete Bothner tabbed assistant coach Diana Groth as the coach-in-waiting.
Mann, the 10th winningest active coach in Division III Women's Soccer (378-174-81) has been a staple of Nazareth Women's Soccer for over three decades. The 2026 season will mark her 34th after taking over the head coaching duties in 1993-94. Since then, Mann has rattled off 32 consecutive winning seasons, with the lone losing season coming in her first year.
"You can't tell the story of Nazareth Women's Soccer, or Nazareth University, without Gail Mann being front and center," said athletics director Pete Bothner. "The consistency and winning culture that she has brought since taking over is truly remarkable and something all our coaches look up to."
That model of consistency for Nazareth has compiled 378 wins with 13 conference titles and 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament. The 378 wins ranks 21st all-time among all Division III women's soccer head coaches. She has 23 double-digit win seasons.
Nazareth's most recent Empire 8 title came in 2023 season, marking the third consecutive championship for the Golden Flyers. Last year (2025) was the first season since 2020 that the Golden Flyers did not advance to the Empire 8 Championship game. From 2002-2014, the women's soccer team competed in 13-straight Empire 8 title games. The domination in the Empire 8 conference is unquestioned under Mann with a 152-23-22 (.827) record.
Early in her coaching campaign the soccer program set the record for wins with 17 in 1999, advancing all the way to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Nazareth fell in the third round of the 2014 NCAA tournament, finishing with a 15-win season.
At Nazareth, in addition to coaching soccer, Mann was an assistant coach for the Golden Flyers' women's lacrosse team for 10 seasons (1995-2004) and helped the team to three NCAA tournament berths. She served as Nazareth's Senior Woman Administrator until 2021.
The six-time Empire 8 Coach of the Year (2010, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2021, 2023) has been wildly successful during her tenure with 71 regional All-Americans and nine national All-Americans.
Groth will take over for the Golden Flyers at the end of the year, having apprenticed with Mann the last several seasons with all-things coaching. The native of Berlin, Germany has been integral with recruiting, film breakdown, and practice plans since joining the coaching staff at Nazareth in 2021.
"Gail has created such a stable ground for Nazareth Women's Soccer and I am excited to build off what has been established," said Groth.
Groth played five years professionally and later coached youth teams for seven years in Germany before moving to the United States. She has UEFA-B and USSF-A coaching licenses and is a scout for the US Youth National Team.
"Diana has had the last several years to learn from one of the best to ever do it in Gail and I am confident she is ready to lead the women's soccer program forward," said Bothner.