St. John Fisher University Athletics

The St. John Fisher women’s soccer program continues to rise under Molly Romano, who enters her eighth season as the Cardinals’ head coach in 2026. 

Named the sixth head coach in Fisher history in 2019, Romano has guided the Cardinals to double-digit wins in three of the last five seasons. She owns a 59-34-20 (.611) overall record with a 44-13-14 (.718) mark against Empire 8 Conference opponents, including regular-season and postseason games, over seven seasons. Fisher has reached the Empire 8 championship game three times and the NCAA Tournament once under her leadership. 

Years of shaping a consistent winner culminated for Romano’s Cardinals in 2025 with the best season in program history. Fisher (13-5-2 overall) won 13 games for the first time since 1983 – including a program record nine regular-season conference contests – and captured its first-ever Empire 8 title to secure an NCAA Tournament bid. In the E8 Tournament, Fisher took out Houghton and rival Nazareth at home before beating top-seeded SUNY Brockport in extra time on the road in the championship game. The Cardinals’ victory over Nazareth in the E8 semifinals ended a four-game postseason losing streak to their East Avenue foe and gave them their first stretch of consecutive wins over the Golden Flyers since a two-game run back in 1992-93.  

Calling the Cardinals dominant in 2025 would have been an understatement. Strong on both ends of the field, they outscored their opponents by 37 (47-10), totaled their most goals in a season since at least 2000, recorded a program record 13 shutouts, ranked 25th in DIII in goals against average (5.26) and at one point rattled off seven consecutive wins, the longest winning streak in program history. 

Fisher's 2025 squad had eight All-Empire 8 selections, including Offensive Player of the Year Emily Woolingham, and three United Soccer Coaches All-Region honorees. With their selections, Woolingham and Madelyn Wania became the first two players to earn first-team All-Region honors under Romano. 

The 2024 season marked another step forward for the program, as the Cardinals (11-6-1) matched the program’s fourth-best single-season wins total. They fell to No. 2-seeded Geneseo in the E8 semifinals after beating No. 6 Alfred 1-0 in overtime in the quarterfinals. The Cardinals ripped off a six-game winning streak that year, a run that included a 2-0 run win over eventual NCAA Tournament qualifier SUNY Brockport, which hadn’t lost a regular-season game since Sept. 27, 2023. Fisher’s nine All-Empire 8 selections, including four first-team honorees, marked the most the program has had under Romano. 

The Cardinals in 2023 went 8-4-5 overall, including a 4-0-4 mark in E8 regular-season play. They beat Alfred in the conference semifinals before falling to East Avenue rival Nazareth in the championship game. In 2022, Romano and her staff won the E8 Coaching Staff of the Year award after leading the Cardinals to an 8-3-6 overall record (6-0-3 E8 regular season). Fisher also had the E8 Defensive Player of the Year that season in Bella Guarracino.

In 2021, the Cardinals went 10-6-1 overall (5-2-1 E8 regular season) and made it to the conference championship game for the first time in program history. The Cardinals that season beat the University of Rochester for the first time in nearly four decades and led the Empire 8 in scoring at 2.94 goals per game. Carli Kovarik, who led the conference with 15 goals, became the first player in program history to be named E8 Player of the Year. Emma Spelman became the third player in Fisher history to be named E8 Rookie of the Year after leading the Cardinals in assists (7). 

In her first year, Romano and the Cardinals earned an Empire 8 Regular Season Championship for the first time in team history and earned the right to host an Empire 8 Championship game at Growney Stadium. Fisher posted a 7-7-3 overall record that included a seven-game unbeaten streak to close out the regular season. Fisher was 4-0-3 in Empire 8 regular-season play, including a 2-1 come-from-behind win against Nazareth - the team's first win over the Golden Flyers in nearly 30 years.

Before becoming Fisher’s head coach, Romano spent two seasons (2017-18) as an assistant across town at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Tigers went 23-10-7, made back-to-back appearances in the Liberty League title game and appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history during Romano’s time on staff. 

Romano also made stops as an assistant coach at Lasell College (2008) and Bentley University (2009).

In addition to her experience at the collegiate level, Romano served as the head coach of the Pittsford Mustangs Girls Under-17/18 team and the U14 Empire United team. She was an assistant coach for the Pittsford Sutherland Girls’ Soccer Team from 2013-16 and the head coach at Beaver Country Day School from 2010-13.

Romano was an offensive threat during her playing career at John Carroll University. She earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference, All-Academic honors and secured the team’s offensive MVP in 2003 and 2004. Romano graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Middle Childhood Education from John Carroll in 2005.

Year By Year At Fisher 

By The Numbers Under Romano

All-Empire 8 Honors Earned: 50 (15 first team)

United Soccer Coaches All-Region Honors Earned: 9 (2 first team)

Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year Winners: 2… Carli Kovarik (2021), Emily Woolingham (2025)

Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year Winners: 1… Bella Guarracino (2022)

Empire 8 Rookie of the Year Winners: 1… Emma Spelman (2021)

Empire 8 Tournament MVP Winners: Francesca Logrippo (2025)

College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Honorees: 17

United Soccer Coaches Scholar All Americans: 1… Madelyn Wania (2025)

Updated 6/25/2026