When you walk past Valley Fields during any of the four practices that Marquette women’s soccer holds during a given week, you’ll see goalkeeping coach Jennifer Wandt in net blocking shots. And it’s not easy getting one past her.
Traditionally, time in net during practice is for student goalkeepers.
No one has told Wandt that.
Center stage in the cage is her home. And that spot has molded how she coaches, leads and plays as an acolyte of the sport.
“She brings a lot to the table,” sophomore goalkeeper Elise Krone said. “She understands what it’s like firsthand, and she’s been able to help prepare us through her training. Not just on our individual needs but also understand what the Big East demands.”
Wandt’s soccer insight was accrued long before joining the Golden Eagles as an assistant and goalie coach in January.
Before coaching at Indiana, Illinois State and now, Marquette, Wandt played for the Trelleborgs FF Swedish football team, and was one of the most accomplished goalies in Baylor University’s storied soccer program.
In her four years as a Bear, she played in net for two NCAA Elite Eight appearances, a Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship victory and 39 shutouts including a program-record 12 her sophomore year. During her senior season, she posted a .869 save percentage and .506 goals against average.
She also had an impact off the pitch that statistics can’t measure.
“Jen was great about pouring into her other players,” said Paul Jobson, Wandt’s coach at Baylor. “She was there — she was reliable if there was a player in need. Jen was there to step up and be there for them if they were having a hard moment.”
Wandt’s empathy is the one thing that’s always stayed the same, despite many jersey changes.
Wandt has one-on-one weekly meetings with an assigned handful of Marquette players. Naturally, goalies Krone and sophomore Hailey Wade are on the list of weekly visits — those a bit more relatable. Wandt is a self-proclaimed talker. With the goalkeepers, she’ll chat about anything from music and hairstyles to emotions and struggles, all while walking Emme (Wandt’s mut) around campus or getting coffee.
“There’s so much love there,” Wade said. “She understands the game, and she understands the mental side of it. So, she does a really good job of pushing us but also showing us that she cares about us as a person too.”
This care allows Wandt, Wade and Krone to connect on the field.
“She shows up every day and is able to ask how we’re doing because she personally invests in each one of us and is there for us in training, however we need to be,” Krone said.
With a big smile, Wandt shares that Allen gives her as much time as she wants with the keepers. The trio work together on goalie-specific training for about five hours a week and then Wandt tailors specific daily training to the two players.
For their practices and play on the pitch, Wandt uses a word for the trio to embody that defined her time in Waco: uncompromising.
“Whatever our values are and whatever we believe in, we’re uncompromising in that,” Wandt said. “We’re going to do what we believe is right and we’re going to do it our way.
“Whatever team comes on this field, it doesn’t matter. Whatever their formation is, whatever their game plan is — it doesn’t matter because we’re going to do us, and we know that doing us is going to take us to get wins and championships.”
Wandt has a style of leadership and play learned while at Baylor, which drives the way she coaches now. It helped her command the field and encourage her teammates to championships, in addition to making clutch saves, of which coach Jobson said there were plenty.
“Accountability on the field was huge for her and the way she communicated with her team,” Jobson said. “If she’s able to teach her goalkeepers how to do that, they’re going to be great, great goalkeepers.”
There are many places in the soccer world that need Wandt’s knowledge, philosophies and character. But she didn’t hesitate when head coach Chris Allen called to offer her the job.
She didn’t ask many questions because she was raised only ten miles away from Milwaukee in Brookfield and was a ball girl for the Marquette women’s soccer team at Valley Fields when she was in 5th and 6th grade.
“I love it here,” Wandt said. “Getting the opportunity to not just come back home… and then be with these players is just — it’s special.”
For Wandt, some things never change.
This story was written by Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at benjamin.hanson@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.