Women’s Soccer

Northwestern Associate Head Coach David Nikolic was announced as the next head coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Thursday afternoon.

Nikolic spent nine seasons with the Wildcats under head coach Michael Moynihan. The relationship between Nikolic and Moynihan, however, spans nearly three decades. The two previously worked together at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where Moynihan was the head coach from 1997 to 2011.

UIC parted ways with coach Tom Anagnost last December after two seasons with the team. Despite winning 12 games and taking UIC to the Horizon League championship game in 2019, Anagnost was replaced on an interim basis by former assistant coach Dustin Downey. Under Downey, the Flames finished the 2021 season 5-3-1 and fell in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament.

With Nikolic on staff, NU achieved its first NCAA Tournament bid in 17 seasons in 2015 and won 82 games. He helped develop three players who would go on to the National Women’s Soccer League — midfielder Marisa Viggiano and center backs Kayla Sharples and Hannah Davison.

Despite going 6-6-1 this season, the Cats missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. To help lead NU, Moynihan will look to assistant coach Morgan Ruhl and volunteer assistant Tom Homa.

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