GUNNISON, Colo. --- The Western Colorado University athletic department hired Colorado native, RMAC alum and North Dakota assistant coach Amanda Raso on Tuesday as the Mountaineers' head women's soccer coach.
 
Raso comes to Gunnison after spending the previous two years at NCAA Division I North Dakota where she supervised the goalkeepers during two of the most successful seasons in Fighting Hawks D-I history. The Aurora, Colorado, native was also an assistant coach at Fort Lewis (2015-17) and played for the Skyhawks (2010-14) and also served as a graduate assistant at Midwestern State.
 
"We're excited to announce Amanda Raso as our next head women's soccer coach," Western Colorado University Director of Athletics Miles Van Hee said. "We had a deep pool of candidates, but her success at various levels of soccer, familiarity with the conference and region, her ability to recruit – particularly within this region, her energy and vision for the program and several other factors shot her to the top. We have confidence she's going to be an outstanding fit for our department and university and lead Mountaineer soccer to great things – on and off the field."
 
Raso helped guide North Dakota to a 9-6-2 record in 2018 thanks to her goalkeepers finishing in the top 15 nationally in save percentage and goals against average. She helped the Fighting Hawks to their best season in program history this past season as they went 10-8-1 and played in their first-ever Summit League Tournament match – the program's first postseason contest as an eligible NCAA Tournament participant in the Division I era.
 
"I want to thank the search committee, Director of Athletics Miles Van Hee and Executive Vice President Brad Baca for this opportunity," Raso said. "It's an honor and privilege to be named the third head coach in Mountaineer women's soccer history. I'm excited to get back to Colorado and coach in the RMAC, both of which are near and dear to my heart. I can't wait to share my passion for the game and be a mentor for this group of women."
 
As the lead assistant coach at Fort Lewis, Raso had complete oversight and session planning for the goalkeepers while helping the Skyhawks reach the RMAC Tournament each of the three seasons she was in Durango as an assistant. Raso also tutored 2015 RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year Caitlyn Espinosa.
 
Raso got her start in collegiate coaching at Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas, as a graduate assistant. There she was in charge of overseeing goalkeepers and coached the 2014 Lonestar Conference Goalkeeper of the Year.
 
Raso also has coached with the New Mexico Olympic Development Program, Durango High School (assistant coach from 2013-18), numerous youth programs and at college camps.
 
Raso was a four-year letter winner and a two-year starter for Fort Lewis from 2010-13 (graduating in 2014) and left the Skyhawks ranked second in school history winning percentage (.744), third in wins (26), fifth in shutouts (11) and seventh in games played (43), minutes played (3,614) and saves (126). She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Fort Lewis in 2014 and a master's degree in sport psychology from Lock Haven University in 2016.