Penn State Harrisburg

Former NCAA Division III Player of the Year and national champion Nick West is set to begin his fourth season as an assistant coach for Penn State Harrisburg's women's soccer program in 2025.


Most recently, West helped lead 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. 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 helped lead the program to the United East Volt Division Championship Game in 2023 after his team was regionally ranked for nearly the entire season. Three players in Abigail Frew, Kyla Brossoit, and Katie Brown earned United Soccer Coaches (USC) All-Region recognition, while the trio was joined by Kylee Altland and Sydney Hemler as all-conference honorees. Altland, Brossoit, and Hemler also earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District accolades for their success on the field and in the classroom. 


During his first year on the sideline at Penn State Harrisburg, West helped guide 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). Hemler was named to the USC All-Region 4 Second Team, while Altland and Sydney 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, Sarah Toche-Manley, and Hannah Wheeler earned all-conference second-team recognition.


West was a standout at perennial power Messiah during his collegiate playing days. An offensive juggernaut for the Falcons, he won a national title in 2017 and also made trips to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight and Sweet 16 during his career. His senior campaign was one for the record books, as he led the nation in goals (30) and total points (66) in 2018 before earning United Soccer Coaches (USC) Division III National Player of the Year honors and being named the D3soccer.com Forward of the Year. During his stellar final collegiate season, he matched an NCAA Division III record by scoring a goal in 15 consecutive games. West finished his career with three all-America accolades, a CoSIDA Academic All-America plaudit, and a MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Year award to go along with an all-region honor and four all-conference selections. 


Following his time at Messiah, West played a year of professional soccer for the North Carolina-based Stumptown AC (formerly Stumptown Athletic) of the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) before joining Keystone FC for a one-year coaching stint.


West is the younger brother of Penn State Harrisburg women's soccer head coach Brandon West.