Veteran head coach Gail Mann returns for her 33rd season in 2025 as Nazareth's women's soccer coach, Mann is Nazareth's longest-tenured head coach at Nazareth. She solidified the Golden Flyers' soccer tradition to the point that Nazareth is routinely recognized among the nation's Division III elite. Entering 2025, Mann ranks ninth among active coaches on the career wins list with 369.
In 2024, Nazareth advanced to the Empire 8 Championships game for the fourth-straight season, falling 1-0 to Geneseo. Nazareth won the previous three title matches, dating back to 2021. Nazareth finished the year 11-6-3 and 7-2-2 in league play.
In 2023, the Golden Flyers earned their third-straight Empire 8 title with a 5-0-3 conference record to earn the No. 1 seed before blanking Russell Sage and St. John Fisher, each by a 3-0 score . It was the 13th conference title for Nazareth and the 13th trip to the NCAA Tournament under Mann.Â
Nazareth defeated Utica 1-0 in the 2022 Championship game and blanked St. John Fisher 3-0 in the 2021 title game.Â
Mann secured her 300th coaching win with a 4-0 win over Utica in September of 2017 and posted win number 350 with the Empire 8 Tournament championship victory over Utica in 2022. Her 32-year coaching record of 369-167-78 computes to a .664 winning percentage and ranks among the top active coaches in Division III. She has a record of 152-23-22 (.827) in conference games. Since 1995 she has coached 71 regional All-Americans and nine national All-Americans. She has been named the Empire 8 Coach of the Year six times (2010, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2021, 2023).
Mann has been at the coaching forefront for all of the Golden Flyers' most significant achievements since taking over as coach in 1993. In just her second season, the Golden Flyers finished 9-8-2 and reached the NYSWCAA Tournament. In 1996, they rolled to a 16-6-1 record and secured berths in both the NYSWCAA and ECAC Tournaments.
Nazareth's steady progression continued under Mann's direction in 1997 as the team finished 16-1-2 and landed its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. Nazareth's first NCAA game was a memorable one -- a thrilling 3-2 triple overtime win over Oneonta. Mann was recognized that year as New York Region Coach of the Year, an honor that was duplicated in 2002. She was named Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year in 1999 as Nazareth set a school record with 17 victories and captured the NCAA New York Region title. She was named E8 Coach of the Year again in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2021 and 2022.
In 2015, Mann was honored by the Rochester Press-Radio Club with the Jean Giambrone Community Service Award that is presented annually to a local person who has made an exemplary lifetime commitment to Rochester-area women's sports.
A native of Rochester, Mann came to Nazareth in 1993 after five seasons as an assistant coach at SUNY Brockport. She was head coach of the New York West Olympic Development U15 team from 1992-1998 and led the team to the Region 1 championship in 1995. She still coaches a U16 team during the summer.
Mann graduated from Spencerport High School, where she excelled in soccer, basketball and softball. She played soccer at SUNY Cortland and was a starting striker on the 1986 team that reached the Division III Final Four.
At Nazareth, in addition to coaching soccer, Mann was an assistant coach for the Golden Flyers' women's lacrosse team for 10 seasons (1995-2004) and helped the team to three NCAA tournament berths. She served as Nazareth's Senior Woman Administrator until 2021 and still is the staff advisor to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
Mann lives in Rochester with her wife of 34 years, Dugan Davies, and dog Rooney.
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