PORTLAND, Ore. — Cross a Viking with a Hornet, and you'd surely end up with some ferocious creature worthy of a Comic Book series. You'd also end up with the new Portland State women's soccer coaching staff, as Maureen Whitney and Jenny Lawrence join first-year head coach Katie Burton as assistant coaches after all three spent time as players and coaches at Sacramento State.
 
"This coaching staff is something I've envisioned for over a decade," Burton said of her assistants. "It will be a unique situation as the three of us have coached together in the past and have been friends for many years.
 
"I see us as a cohesive unit, where roles and tasks shift on a day-to-day basis, both on the field and in the office. What makes this particularly special is the alignment of our coaching beliefs and values. We all firmly believe that at the end of the day, it's about the student-athlete experience."
 
All three coaches share a nexus to the best Sacramento State team in program history, as Burton and Lawrence both played while Whitney coached for the Hornets' 2007 team that swept the Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles, and made the program's first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
 
Whitney played two years for Sacramento State from 1998-99, and then coached as an assistant at her alma mater across two stints from 2000-03 and 2007-10.
 
Whitney also brings the most playing experience of any member on staff, having spent parts of the past 16 years with the California Storm of the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL). Whitney played for the Storm for over a decade starting in 2001, and spent two different stints as a player-coach and assistant from 2005-09 and 2015-17.
 
Whitney won two WPSL championships with the Storm in 2002 and 2004 – the latter of which she won with former Portland State head coach Laura Schott. Whitney was named the WPSL MVP of the West Division the following year in 2005, and captained the Storm for 10 consecutive seasons. Additionally, Whitney was named a WPSL All-Star four times (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007), and won the 2012 WPSL Leadership Award.
 
"Mo is unique in that she still has the ability to play and can demonstrate what we are asking the athletes to do. Her abilities create an additional learning avenue for the athletes," Burton said.
 
Whitney has played with the best as she's shared the field with several national team players during her time with the Storm, including Brandi Chastain (U.S.), Sissi (Brazil), Leslie Osborne (U.S.), Stephanie Cox (U.S.), Shannon MacMillan (U.S.) and current USWNT star Alex Morgan.
 
Whitney was also called into camp for the San Jose CyberRays of the professional Women's United Soccer Association, but the league folded a month later. Whitney was twice called up to Sky Blue FC during the 2008-09 season when the team played in the WPS, but turned down both call-ups to stay as an assistant at Sacramento State.
 
Lawrence, meanwhile, comes to the Vikings after serving as a volunteer assistant at Sacramento State from 2009-11 – a stretch that included the Hornets' second Big Sky title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2010 – and as a full-time assistant from 2014-17.
 
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. Lawrence will again coach goalkeepers in her new role at Portland State
 
"Jenny has a natural ability to connect with student-athletes," Burton said of her hire. "She knows how to adjust teaching methods to different learning styles, and how to find the right motivation for each student-athlete."
 
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.
 
The new Viking coaching staff will make their debut Aug. 15, when the Vikings take on the University of the Fraser Valley in an exhibition at Hillsboro Stadium. The match will kick off at 2 p.m. (PT).