Former United East Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year Brandon West is set to enter his fifth season as Penn State Harrisburg head coach in 2025.
Since taking over the program in 2021, West has led Penn State Harrisburg to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and two United East Championships. Through four seasons, his players have earned 10 all-region accolades, two conference player of the year awards and 30 all-conference honors. For his efforts, West was named the 2021 United East Coach of the Year.
Most recently, West led Penn State Harrisburg back to the NCAA Tournament after capturing the program's second conference championship in four years thanks to a thrilling victory over St. Mary's (Md.) in PK's in the United East Championship Game. Under his tutelage, three players in Kylie Yap, Diana Pon and Julia Hughes secured United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors, while Yap was also tabbed the United East Defensive Player of the Year. In total, 10 players were named all-conference, while Yap, Pon, Ava Myers, Sarah Toche-Manley and Sydney Mulka earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District recognition.
West led the program to the United East Volt Division Championship Game in 2023 after his team was regionally ranked for nearly the entire season. Under his guidance, three players in Abigail Frew, Kyla Brossoit, and Katie Brown earned United Soccer Coaches All-Region recognition, while the trio was joined by Kylee Altland and Sydney Hemler as all-conference honorees. Altland, Brossoit, and Hemler also earned CSC Academic All-District accolades for their success on the field and in the classroom.
In 2022, West led Penn State Harrisburg to its second straight United East Championship Game in 2022. As a group, the Lions were strong defensively, recording a program-record 13 shutouts for the second straight year and ranking 20th in the nation in shutout percentage (.650). Under West's guidance, Hemler was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region 4 Second Team, while Altland and Mulka earned all-region third team honors. Hemler was tabbed the United East Defensive Player of the Year and was named the inaugural United East Women's Soccer Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Altland, Hemler, and Mulka were named to the United East All-Conference First Team, while Brossoit, Frew, Amy Patkos, Toche-Manley, and Hannah Wheeler earned all-conference second-team recognition.
In his first year at the helm in 2021, West led Penn State Harrisburg to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and second conference championship in program history. The Lions went undefeated in United East play (7-0-1) and secured the conference’s regular season conference title. The Blue & White hosted the 2021 United East Championship Tournament and defeated Penn State Berks to win the conference crown. As a unit, the team recorded a program-record 13 shutouts on the year. For his efforts, West was named the United East Coach of the Year by his peers. Under West’s tutelage, Toche-Manley became the first player in program history to earn all-region recognition, as the midfielder was tabbed a United Soccer Coaches All-Region 4 Second-Team pick in 2021. Toche-Manley was also a United East All-Conference First-Team selection and was joined on the first team by Brown, while teammates Altland, Hemler, Patkos, Delaney Shifflett, and Rhyan Socash earned second-team all-conference honors that fall.
A United Soccer Coaches Advanced and Premier Diploma-holding coach, West was an assistant at Division I Liberty prior to taking over at Penn State Harrisburg. He helped lead the Flames to the NCAA Championship Tournament in the spring of 2021 after a memorable run in the ASUN Tournament culminated with a conference championship. During his first season at Liberty under head coach Lang Wedemeyer, the Flames won 10 games, including victories over the likes of Pittsburgh and James Madison, before securing a spot in the 2019 ASUN Tournament.
Prior to his stint at Liberty, West was the head coach at Eastern for two seasons. Under his guidance, the Eagles made back-to-back appearances in the MAC Freedom Tournament after the program failed to make the postseason in the five seasons before his arrival. While at Eastern, he also served as the school's assistant athletic director of facilities, as well as the goalkeeper coach for the men's soccer program.
Before accepting his first head coaching position, West served as an assistant under men's soccer head coach Brad McCarty at his alma mater for two seasons beginning in the fall of 2015. In 2016, he helped lead the Falcons to 19 wins and an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance.
West was a standout goalkeeper during his collegiate career at Division III power Messiah. He was the starter in net when the Falcons won back-to-back NCAA Division III Championships in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and he earned NSCAA All-Region recognition for his stellar play before being named to the NCAA All-Tournament team in 2012. He posted 25 shutouts during his career, recording total 67 victories and recording an outstanding 0.39 goals against average. West graduated from Messiah in 2015.
