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 After 13 successful seasons at NCAA Division III UW-Whitewater, Greg Henschel is making the move up to Division I.
Henschel, a former standout player at Brookfield East High School and UW-Oshkosh, was named the seventh coach in UW-Milwaukee women's soccer history Tuesday. He succeeds Michael Moynihan, who resigned last month after 14 seasons to take over the Northwestern program.
"We are very excited to hire Greg as our women's soccer coach and it is great to see how excited he is to join our family in Milwaukee," UWM athletic director Rick Costello said in a news release. "He has a championship pedigree and a long history of success in the state of Wisconsin."
Henschel recorded nearly 300 victories as the men's and women's coach at Whitewater.
He led the Warhawks men's team to a 164-68-20 overall record, including a 14-0-2 mark and titles in each of the first three seasons of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Whitewater qualified for the NCAA tournament 10 times in his 13 years.
The women's program earned its first NCAA berth last fall, after claiming its second straight WIAC championship. Henschel recorded a 126-89-13 record in 12 years with the team, including 55-35-8 in conference action.
"Greg has been leading two programs to league titles and NCAA tournament berths on a regular basis while developing successful young men and women on and off the field," Costello said of Henschel, who also coaches youth teams with the Milwaukee Kickers Nationals. "He is taking over a program that has enjoyed tremendous success and I have no doubt he is the guy to help take us to even higher levels."
Henschel, the WIAC Coach of the Year for both men's and women's soccer last fall, also had stints as an assistant at UW-Oshkosh and Thomas College (Ga.) before being hired at Whitewater.
He takes over a Panthers program that has won the past 12 Horizon League regular-season titles and the past four conference tournaments. UWM (19-3-0) set a school record for victories and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2011. While the Panthers' roster was relatively young last season, they do lose five senior starters: All-American and career leading scorer Sarah Hagen (Appleton North), along with Keara Thompson, Makenzie Gillaspie, Laurel Ragalie (Kenosha Bradford) and Mary Wandolowski.
"I am honored to join the Milwaukee Panther family," Henschel said. "I would like to thank Rick Costello and Chancellor Mike Lovell for providing me the opportunity to continue the proud tradition of Panther women's soccer. I look forward to working hard to continue building on the tremendous legacy of success Mike Moynihan and (longtime assistant) David Nikolic have left behind."
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