Kristen Gay is in her fifth season as the head coach of the North Dakota soccer program, having led the way through the transition into Division I and into UND's new home in the Big Sky Conference.
UND has shown consistent improvement during Gay's time as head coach as each year in the Great West Conference the team finished its campaign with an improved winning percentage.
During her tenure, Gay has led eight student-athletes to being named to the Great West All-Conference Team and seven Great West All-Tournament Team honorees.
Last year, North Dakota advanced to the semifinals in the Great West Conference Tournament where it grabbed an early lead over eventual GWC champion Utah Valley, but saw its season conclude with a 6-9-3 record after a 4-2 defeat.
In 2010, Gay led the Sioux to a 4-2 record in the Great West Conference. In the conference tournament, the Sioux defeated Howard 7-0 and South Carolina State 3-2 before suffering a heartbreaking loss in the championship game after reaching penalty kicks.
In Gay's second campaign at the helm, the 2009 season was highlighted by a 3-1 win over Northern Iowa, and an opening-round victory in the inaugural Great West Conference Tournament, where the Sioux defeated the top-seed and tournament host New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).
In her first season at the helm of the Fighting Sioux, UND's first as a DI program, Gay led the team to a 5-12-0 record, having only three games at its home confines of Bronson Field.
Gay picked up her first win against Northern State (Sept. 2, 2008) and would defeat her first Division I opponent only 10 days later in the opening game of the Niagara Tournament, defeating Drexel (Sept. 12, 2008) 1-0.
Gay became UND's head women's soccer coach on Feb. 15, 2008, becoming the sixth head coach since the program's inaugural 1999 season. Gay originally joined the UND soccer staff as an assistant coach on March 3, 2006, and she was responsible for day-to-day operations, recruiting, camps, travel and on-field coaching. She came to UND after having served as the first assistant coach at Indiana State University the previous two seasons. At Indiana State, Gay helped guide the Sycamores to their best two seasons in the program's history.
Prior to Indiana State, Gay was head coach for two years at Dana College in Blair, Neb., where she led the Vikings to a 27-12-2 mark and was named the GPAC Co-Coach of the Year. During her two seasons at Dana she produced 14 GPAC All-Conference performers and five NAIA Region IV athletes. Under Gay's tutelage, five student-athletes were named NAIA Academic All-Americans, while two Vikings garnered All-America honors. In addition to her coaching duties at Dana, Gay served as the sports information director for the athletics department.
Gay is a 2000 graduate of the University of Nebraska, where she played soccer from 1995-98 and led the Cornhuskers to a Big 8 tournament championship in 1995 and Big XII regular season titles in 1996 and 1997. She was also part of a program that made the NCAA Sweet Sixteen twice and an NCAA Elite Eight Appearance in 1996. She was the team's leading scorer as a freshman in 1995, was an all-conference and all-region selection in 1996 and served as team co-captain as a senior in 1998.
Gay received her bachelor's degree in secondary education and special education from the University of Nebraska and her master's degree in physical education/coaching from Indiana State University.
