SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The University of San Francisco women's soccer program and head coach Jim Millinder officially announced the hiring of Alexis Mata as the program's new assistant coach on Thursday.
 
"We are thrilled to welcome Lex into our environment and the tight knit family we have created throughout our program on the Hilltop," said associate head coach Pinder Nijjar. "Her passion for competition and growth will inspire the next wave of players at USF to become the best version of themselves on and off the pitch. Her strong mentality and approach to the game were both evident during the hiring process and we are very fortunate to be a part of her coaching journey."
 
Originally from Woodland, Calif., Mata joins the staff on the Hilltop after serving as a volunteer assistant at Oregon in 2023. While in Eugene, Mata also coached at the club level locally.
 
"I am incredibly honored and excited to be a part of this institution and staff," said Mata. "At the end of the day, it's about the student-athletes and I am looking forward to supporting them along their athletic and professional development."
 
In her playing career, Mata was a goalkeeper at the University of Hawai'I as she was named Big West Goalkeeper of the Year in 2019 in addition to earning All-Big West honors her final two years (2018/Honorable Mention + 2019/First Team). Wrapping up her career, she also was selected to the 2019 United Coaches All-West First Team. Additionally, she was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week four times in her career. At the end of her career, Mata ranked in the top five in program history in shutouts (13, second), saves (290, second), matches played (55, third), matches started (52, third), minutes played (4,964:36, third), wins (21, fourth) and goals against average (1.41, fifth). Academically, Mata was named to the Big West Academic All-Conference Team twice.
 
Following her career at Hawai'i, Mata went overseas to pursue a professional career. Beginning at the ameateur level, she started her journey in Valencia, Spain and worked her way up to Seguna RFEF (second division in the Spanish league) playing for Levante Las Planas in Barcelona in 2022.
 
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