Jenny Lawrence joined the Portland State women’s soccer coaching staff in the fall of 2017, serving as an assistant coach in charge of the team’s goalkeepers under first-year head coach Katie Burton.
Lawrence helped lead the Vikings back to the Big Sky tournament after a two-year absence in the 2017 season, as the Vikings finished fourth in the Big Sky at 5-4-1 in conference play, and 9-10-1 overall. Additionally, the Vikings won their first match at the Big Sky tournament since 2013 with a 1-0 win over Northern Arizona - a team they had never beaten in the Big Sky tournament previously - in the Big Sky quarterfinals.
Lawrence also helped lead Portland State goalkeeper Abbie Faingold to All-Big Sky tournament honors during the 2017 season. Faingold was also named Big Sky Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Oct. 10. In 2019, Faingold made 75 saves as a senior with two shutouts.
Lawrence completed a staff full of ex-Sacramento State players and coaches, as she, Burton and fellow assistant Maureen Whitney all played and coached at Sacramento State before coming to Portland State. Lawrence and Burton overlapped as players at Sacramento State, including in 2007, when the Hornets swept the Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles, and made their first NCAA tournament appearance.
Lawrence earned All-Big Sky honorable mention in her first year with the Hornets in 2005, and finished her career ranked third all-time in career saves.
Lawrence first joined the Hornets’ coaching staff as a volunteer assistant and goalkeeper trainer, and served in that role from 2009-11 – a stretch that included the Hornets’ second Big Sky title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2010. Lawrence rejoined the Hornets’ coaching staff as an assistant in 2014, and served in that role before leaving to join the Vikings.
Lawrence oversaw the development of three-time All-Big Sky second-team selection Savannah Abercrombie in her first stint mentoring goalkeepers at Sacramento State. Lawrence then coached Kim Mata in her final year at Sacramento State when she rejoined the Hornets’ staff in 2014, and coached Mata to her second straight All-Big Sky honorable mention that season.
Outside of her time at Sacramento State, Lawrence served as a coach and trainer for the Elk Grove United Soccer Club from 2010-17, assisting in the player development for the club’s U8 to U12 girls divisions, as well as the boys and girls goalkeepers, aged 7-14.
