Megan Jessee - Women's Soccer Coach - Wake Forest University Athletics

Megan Jessee

Title:
Assistant Coach

Former Connecticut standout Megan Jessee is in her ninth season as an assistant coach at Wake Forest in 2016. Jessee works with the Demon Deacon goalkeepers and is also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the soccer program. Goalkeeping has been a strength of Wake Forest since Jessee's joined the coaching staff. Wake Forest has kept 79 shutouts in Jessee's eight years with the team, including 15 shutouts in 2009 and 14 in 2011, which rank as the two highest totals in school history. Jessee helped mold former Deacon goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe into one of the top keepers in the country. Bledsoe was named to the NSCAA's All-America Second Team as a sophomore in 2011, becoming the first goalkeeper in Wake Forest history to earn All-America honors, and is a two-time All-ACC honoree. Heading into her senior season, she already holds most of Wake Forest's goalkeeping records including career shutouts (25), single-season shutouts (14) and career goals against average (0.92). 2012 saw Wake Forest's goalkeeping earn further national recognition as Bledsoe was named a preseason All-American and made the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List. Bledsoe kept a 0.84 goals against average and eight shutouts in addition to combining with freshman goalkeeper Sara Small for another shutout. Under Jessee, Bledsoe kept a school-record 14 shutouts in 2011 and posted a 0.74 goals against average that ranked as the second-lowest ever for a Demon Deacon. Under Jessee's tutelage, Bledsoe and the back line helped lead the Deacons to an 18-4-4 record and the school's first-ever College Cup appearances. 2010 was a banner year for goalkeeping at Wake Forest. Bledsoe, then a freshman, started in net from her first day on campus, and Jessee helped her to a 13-8-3 record with a 1.20 goals against average. Bledsoe was named the ACC Tournament MVP after stopping three penalty kicks in the title-match shootout against Maryland to help the Demon Deacons claim their first-ever ACC Championship.

In 2009, Jessee helped the Demon Deacons to the best season in program history, culminating with an NCAA Tournament run to the quarterfinals and a final national ranking of No. 8 in the country, the best in program history. Wake Forest set a new program record for shutouts in a season in 2009 with 15 clean sheets, easily besting the previous record of 12, which was set in 1999 and 2006. The Deacs had a stretch of five consecutive shutouts during Atlantic Coast Conference play in 2009 and also ran off three straight shutouts in the first three rounds of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. For the season, Demon Deacon goalkeepers Amanda Barasha and Laura Morse combined for a 0.93 goals against average. In her first year at Wake Forest, Jessee helped the Demon Deacon keepers to 10 shutouts. Junior goalkeeper Laura Morse showed improvement in goal under the direction of Jessee, finishing the 2008 season with seven clean sheets and posting a 1.01 goals against average. Jessee joined the Demon Deacon staff after spending a year as the women's soccer graduate assistant at Slippery Rock University. While at Slippery Rock, Jessee served as the field player and goalkeeper coach and also helped with recruiting and team operations. Jessee has also coached for the Connecticut Olympic Development Program, the FSA Soccer Plus Football Club, Soccer Plus Camps and the Region 1 ODP Girls Soccer Camp. A four-year letterwinner while at Connecticut, Jessee earned Big East Goalkeeper of the Week honors three times in the 2004 season. Jessee was named a member of the Big East Academic All Star Team and the Big East All-Second Team in 2004. After finishing her career at UConn, Jessee spent a year with the Soccer Plus Connecticut Reds of the Women's Premier Soccer League. Jessee earned her bachelor's degree as a liberal arts and science major with minors in business and communications.