Head coach Jill Ellis led the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) to a World Cup Championship July 5. The USWNT won with a score of 5-2 against Japan, earning its third World Cup victory. 

Ellis began her coaching career at NC State in 1988 as assistant coach of the women’s soccer team. That year, the team earned its only ACC championship as well as a trip to the national championship game, where it fell to archrival UNC-Chapel Hill. The Wolfpack made it to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship the following year.

In 1990, Ellis left NC State to pursue a career outside of soccer but returned to coaching four years later at Maryland. She experienced her most successful seasons as head coach for UCLA for 11 seasons, where she had seven College Cup appearances. 

Ellis then got involved with U.S. Soccer and became the permanent coach in spring of 2014.

“It’s not a surprise one bit she has reached the level that she has in U.S. soccer and really world soccer,” Laura Kerrigan said in an article from The News & Observer. Kerrigan was a senior during Ellis’ first season at NC State and later went on to coach the Wolfpack.

“She really is an amazing coach,” Kerrigan said. “Her decisions over the last couple weeks … just show how well she knows those players.”

Ellis was able to help the USWNT reach its success, just like she did 25 years prior with the Wolfpack.

“I’m so happy for every little girl who dreams about this,” said Ellis in a televised post-championship interview.