Coaching and Support Staff

Ann Cook enters her 14th season with the Nittany Lions in 2020. This will also be the 14th season that Cook will be coaching with former teammate and friend Erica (Walsh) Dambach. The two combined for numerous wins on the field at William & Mary and have shown their prowess on the sidelines together, as they led the Nittany Lions to the program’s first NCAA title in 2015, two College Cup appearances (2012 & ’15), 10 Big Ten titles (200712, 2014-16 & 2018) and 14 NCAA Tournament appearances (2007-19).

As the associate head coach, Cook is the director of player development and is in charge of the Nittany Lion attack. Since she has been with the Blue & White, Penn State has had one of the most prolific attacks in the country. Since 2011, Penn State has scored 500 goals, placing them third in the country during that timespan. Under the guidance of Cook, four Nittany Lions have scored 100 or more points over their careers. Maya Hayes finished her Nittany Lion career with 163 points (71g, 21a), which ranks third-best in school history. As Director of Player Development, Cook has mentored 13 players to NWSL draft selection, making Penn State one of the top producers of pro talent. Only 3 collegiate programs can say they have had a player taken in every NWSL draft since its inception in 2013.

Most recently, Cook mentored the Ally Schlegel to Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Schlegel tied for the Big Ten lead with 13 goals in her first season of competition in 2019. Also under Cook's tutelage, junior transfer Sam Coffey was named a Scholar All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. Coffey tallied 11 goals and added 10 assists in her first as a Nittany Lion as she was named First-Team All-North Region.

Mallory Weber became the 10th Nittany Lion to eclipse the century mark in points during the 2015 season. Weber ended her career at Penn State in 10th with 101 points on 36 goals and 29 assists. In just the last five years, the Nittany Lion attack has produced six players who have been drafted by the National Women’s Soccer League.

Throughout her time at Penn State, Cook has been involved in the organization, Soccer Without Borders (SWB) and currently serves as a member of its advisory board. SWB’s mission is to use soccer as a vehicle for positive change in the lives of underserved youth around the world and has project sites in the U.S. as well as in Africa and Central America. Cook's primary involvement has been with its project for girls in Granada, Nicaragua.

As an early assistant project director for SWB, she helped establish what is now a thriving year-round program there. Cook has accompanied Penn State student-athletes there on multiple occasions and she took the team to Nicaragua for spring break 2018 to run camps and clinics for girls as well as coaches’ clinics. They also trained with and played against the Nicaraguan National Team. Because of her time with Soccer Without Borders, Cook has worked with the U.S. State Department on projects in Nicaragua and in Egypt. She also was given the incredible opportunity to go to Papua New Guinea to help the PNG U-20 National Team prepare for the 2016 World Cup.

Prior to PSU, Cook was an assistant coach at Nebraska from 2005-2007 and at Missouri State from 2004-2005. As the head coach at Drury University from 1999-2000, Cook oversaw Drury’s transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. Her squad ranked No. 5 in the NCAA Division I poll among new programs in 1999.

A three-time All-American, Cook played for the College of William & Mary from 1993-97. In the mix for the Hermann Trophy in both 1995 and 1997, she was the 1997 CAA Conference Player of the Year and CAA Conference Tournament MVP. The Tribe made appearances in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals two of Cook’s four seasons and concluded the seasons ranked in the top five nationally.

Active with the U.S. National Team programs, Cook was a member of the U.S. Under-20 team from 1993-95 and played with the full national team in 1998. Professionally, Cook was a fourth-round draft pick (25th overall in the global draft) by the Bay Area CyberRays of the WUSA in 2000.

A member of the team that won the WUSA’s inaugural season championship in 2001, she was traded in December of that year to the Washington Freedom, which eventually finished as the 2002 league runners-up. Cook moved to coaching full-time when the WUSA folded after the 2003 season.

Tim Wassell returns to Penn State for his 11th season in 2020. With the Nittany Lions, he serves as the recruiting coordinator and focuses on the team’s goalkeepers and defensive unit.

Wassell has established himself as one of top recruiting coordinators in the country and has attracted nationally-ranked recruiting classes to Happy Valley year after year. These classes include four top-4 classes since 2014 as ranked by TopDrawerSoccer.com and the #1 recruiting class in 2019.

Wassell’s goalkeepers have found great success not only at Penn State, but at the national level, as well. Rose Chandler and Amanda Dennis have seen extensive time with the U.S. Women’s National Team program.

Under Wassel's guidance, Amanda Dennis became the Nittany Lions most recent goalkeeper to enter the NWSL. Dennis signed to play for the Houston Dash following her senior season in 2019.

For Chandler, she was a member of the U.S. U-20 WNT that won the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Tournament and was on the U.S. U-20 WNT at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

At the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Tournament, Chandler started all five matches in net for the Red, White and Blue, which included three-straight shutouts to capture the tournament title. For her performance in net at the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Tournament, Chandler received the Golden Glove award. Chandler and four other Nittany Lions missed the 2016 Penn State women’s soccer season as they were at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup with the U.S. U-20 WNT.

The 2016 season featured Dennis, a freshman that year, start all 21 matches in net for the Nittany Lions. With her start on Aug. 19, 2016, against No. 6 West Virginia, Dennis became the first Nittany Lion true freshman goalkeeper to start the first match of the season since future Olympian Alyssa Naeher recorded a start in net against No. 2 UCLA on Aug. 25, 2006. Following the 2016 regular season, Dennis was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team.

Under the direction of Wassell, the Nittany Lions tallied one of the best defensive efforts in program history during the 2015 season. As a defensive unit, the Nittany Lions allowed only 14 goals on the year and a goals against average of .51, which ranks third-best in program history. The Nittany Lions’ 15 shutouts in 2015 tied the second-best performance in school history (2004).

The Nittany Lion defensive prowess was on display during the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Penn State defense did not concede a goal over the final 733:32 of the season and only allowed 13 shots on goal in six games during the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

As recruiting coordinator, Wassell has brought some of the nation’s top recruiting classes to Happy Valley. According to TopDrawerSoccer. com, the Nittany Lions tallied back-to-back No. 2 overall recruiting classes in 2014 and 2015 and brought in the No. 4 class in 2017. The 2014 class featured Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Emily Ogle, and the 2015 class featured the No. 5 overall signee, Ellie Jean, as well as the No. 10 overall signee, Kaleigh Riehl, just to a highlight a few. The 2017 class, ranked fourth overall, features four Nittany Lions in the top-30, including No. 5 overall signee Frankie Tagliaferri. The 2019 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 by TopDrawerSoccer.com

Goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom found major success in net for the Nittany Lions under the tutelage of Wassell. Eckerstrom finished her Nittany Lion career with a record of 61-14-3, 255 saves, a save percentage of .804, a goals against average of .80 and 6,957 goalie minutes played. Her 61 wins are the second-most by a Nittany Lion keeper, her 255 saves rank fourth in the Nittany Lion rankings, her save percentage of .804 ranks sixth and her 6,957 minutes in net are third-best in program history.

Eckerstrom was selected as the top goalkeeper in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) 2016 College Draft with the No. 26 pick by the Western New York Flash.

Over three seasons from 2007-09 at Penn State Altoona, Wassell led the women’s program to a 48-11-5 overall record as head coach, taking home NSCAA Great Lakes Coach of the Year honors in 2008. He was also named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

While with the Nittany Lions in Altoona, Wassell’s defense-oriented teams posted 39 shutouts in 64 games as the squad set new marks for wins in every year of his tenure with 13, 17 and 18, respectively. During the 2008 campaign, the squad posted the third-best goals against average in Division III at 0.34.

Eighteen Lions earned All-AMCC honors and 24 were named to the Academic All-AMCC team during the three-year tenure, which outscored opponents 172-40. Additionally, Wassell’s charges collected three NSCAA Great Lakes All-Region selections, including the only freshman on the first or second team in 2008. The team reached the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament, falling 1-0 to Otterbein. During that season, PSU Altoona went without a loss in the regular season.

Prior to taking over the reins at Altoona, he served as the goalkeeping coach in 2006 for both the men’s and women’s teams. For the men’s squad at Altoona, the team posted the best goals against average in the conference and second best mark in shutouts. The team finished top 25 nationally in GAA with a 0.63 average.

As a goalkeeper at Penn State Altoona, Wassell was a two-time NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region selection in 2004 and 2005 and a twotime All-AMCC First Team selection as well. He was named the 2005 PSU Altoona Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was mentioned amongst the coaches of the AMCC as the Preseason Player of the Year in 2005. In both 2004 and 2005, Wassell led the AMCC in save percentage, shutouts and GAA, completing his two-year tenure between the pipes with a school-record 0.71 GAA. A highlight to his success at Penn State Altoona was a 641-minute shutout streak during the 2004 season, which, at the time, ranked in the top 15 in Division III history. Wassell was an accomplished student with two Academic All-AMCC honors, a spot on the Penn State Altoona Dean’s List every semester and a 3.72 cumulative grade point average. Prior to his time at Altoona, Wassell was a member of the East Stroudsburg squad from 2000-02, earning two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships with an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2000. Wassell, a Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, native earned his bachelor’s degree in business at Penn State Altoona. He has earned NSCAA National and Advanced National Goalkeeping Coaching Diplomas and serves on the NSCAA National Goalkeeping Staff.

Kara Lowery enters her 8th season with the Penn State women’s soccer program in 2019. The 2019 campaign marks her fourth season as the director of operations and performance leadership with the Nittany Lions. Lowery served as the director of operations during her first three seasons at Penn State. Lowery’s roles at Penn State include: leadership/player development programming, daily operations, team travel and youth camps.

Prior to joining the Nittany Lions, Lowery was previously an assistant coach for the Lock Haven men’s and women’s soccer programs for three seasons.

While at Lock Haven, Lowery helped guide the men’s team to the 2011 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference regular season crown. The Bald Eagles earned Daktronics All-America, NSCAA All-Region and PSAC All-Conference honors during Lowery’s three years.

Lowery served as the top assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma from 2008-10. As an assistant with Oklahoma, she helped direct all facets of the program and helped recruit a nationally ranked 2010 recruiting class. She also helped direct the Sooners’ summer soccer camps.

Prior to her time with the Sooners, she was an assistant coach with the University of Kansas from 2005-08. While at KU, the Jayhawks never finished below fourth in the Big 12.

At Emporia State, Lowery was named the 2004-05 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Coach of the Year. In 2004, she led the Hornets to a 10-8-2 record, marking the first winning season in the four-year history of the program. ESU placed third in the MIAA and climbed as high as fifth in the NSCAA/Adidas Central Region rankings.

From 2000-04, Lowery served as the head coach at St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, for four seasons. Under her guidance, the team was able to advance to the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament all four seasons and to the NAIA Tournament in 2001.

Lowery got her coaching career start as an assistant at Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma, from 1998-99.

She holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) “A” coaching license.

Lowery was a four-time All-American and four-time captain at NAIA Southern Nazarene University. She helped Nazarene advance to two NAIA National Tournaments. She graduated from Southern Nazarene University in 1997.