Skip Thorp Position: Assistant Coach Experience: 9th season Alma Mater: Delaware, 1995

Skip Thorp enters his ninth season on the Wake Forest women's soccer coaching staff. Thorp brings an extensive amount of goalkeeping knowledge and overall coaching experience to the program. Thorp also handles recruiting, practice planning and academic supervision.

After both goalkeepers went down in the preseason of 2000 with season-ending knee injuries, Thorp held an open tryout among the team and selected Tracy Chao, a hard-working, athletic, 5-5 reserve defender with no keeper experience.

Under his expert tutelage, Chao finished the season with a 9-8-2 record, 1.52 goals-against average, 85 saves and 3 shutouts in 1,715 minutes in net. She was named the ACC Player of the Week after shutting out Davidson, eventual national champion North Carolina and earning three saves in a 2-1 overtime victory at NC State.

In 2005, he took Kaitlyn Doe, a strong and athletic field player and developed her into the Demon Deacons starting goalkeeper. In her first year as a collegiate goaltender, Doe started in 16 of the 18 games and earned a .725 save percentage and four shutouts.

In 1999, Wake's starting goalkeeper, Erin Regan, earned first team All-ACC honors.

A past member of the coaching staff for the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team and the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team, Thorp has also served on the coaching staff for the Carolina Dynamo (USL) in 1999 and the Delaware Wizards (USL) and the Delaware Genies (WUSL) in 1998. Thorp also owns a USSF "A" coaching license.

After his collegiate playing career at Delaware, Thorp started his coaching career a year later. He graduated in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in engineering. Thorp also played a season of semi-pro soccer for the Dublin Grangewoodbine in Ireland's First Division.

Thorp, a native of Bear, Del., enjoys billiards, golf and plays bass guitar in a local band, Queue.