Coaching Staff
Lauren Gunning
Founder & ODU Head Coach
Gunning comes to ODU from USC, where she was the associate head coach for the previous five seasons. She helped lead the Trojans to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and a Pac-12 Championship in 2023.
Gunning spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant coach at UConn. Gunning directed UConn’s offensive unit and helped the Huskies win 59 games during her time with the Huskies. In both 2016 and 2021, Connecticut reached a program-record 12 wins. In 2021, Gunning helped UConn earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in program history and for the first time since 2013. In 2015, her first season at UConn, Gunning helped lead the Huskies to the Big East Tournament title game for the first time and to a fourth straight season in double-digit wins. She was honored with the Huskies’ staff as part of the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year.
Prior to coaching at her alma mater, Gunning spent three years at Cincinnati (2012-14). There, she worked primarily with the Bearcats’ offensive unit and had a hand in the development of Cincinnati’s goalkeepers. As a player at UConn, Gunning served as a team captain in her senior season.
Jillian Rizzo
ODU Assistant Coach
Rizzo comes to ODU with six years of collegiate coaching experience, most recently serving as the defensive coordinator and goalkeeper specialist at the University of Southern California alongside Gunning for two seasons.
At USC, Rizzo served as assistant coach and defensive coordinator. Prior to USC, she spent three seasons at Marquette as an assistant coach. At Marquette, Rizzo was part of the staff that earned 2023 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year honors. She helped lead the Golden Eagles to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023, when Marquette posted a program-best 15-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark in BIG EAST play.
Rizzo worked closely with Marquette’s defensive and goalkeeper units. Rizzo comes to ODU following a standout career at Ohio State, where she was a five-year starting goalkeeper from 2016-21. During her time with the Buckeyes, she recorded a program-record 777 career saves while posting a .469 save percentage and 28 wins as a starter. Her 203 career ground balls rank second all-time in the Ohio State record books.
Rizzo was an IWLCA All-Midwest Region and All-Big Ten selection in 2021 and served as a team captain four times during her career.