Our Staff

Sue Patberg was appointed head women's soccer coach at Emory University prior to the 2005 season.  She has led the program to unprecedented success during her time with the team, and became the first Emory women's soccer coach to be named the National Coach of the Year, earning the honor from D3Soccer.com in 2012.

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Known for consistently producing one of the top defenses in the country, Patberg has led the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament 14 times in 19 seasons, including two trips to the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championships in 2012 and 2024 and a quarterfinal finish during the 2010 campaign.  Her squads at Emory have won at least one game during 11 of her 13 tournament appearances.  Patberg has captured a pair of University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships.

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At the conclusion of the 2024 season, Patberg's 31st campaign as a collegiate head coach, she has a 384-165-73 career record that includes 22 NCAA tournament appearances. Her 19-year mark at Emory stands at 238-78-55 good for a .753 winning percentage. 

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In 2019, Patberg and her staff captured University Athletic Association Coaching Staff of the Year honors for the first time during her run with the Eagles. The team finished with a 13-5 overall record and qualified for the NCAA postseason for the second consecutive season.

 

She has coached five All-Americans while at Emory, defenders Grace Lam (2007 and 2008), Lauren Gorodetsky (2010-13) and Lily Dresner (2021), Kylie Hall (2022), Kaitlyn Nimer (2024) with Gorodetsky earning the D3Soccer.com Defender of the Year and the NCAA Tournament Most Oustanding Defensive Player honors in 2012.  Under her leadership, the Emory women's soccer program has had five UAA Player of the Year selections (Kylie Hall in 2022, Gorodetsky in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and Whitney Briggs in 2008), Defender of the Year (Michelle Davidson in 2024) and Rookie of the year (Peyton Robertson in 2019) 93 all-UAA team members and 40 all-region honorees.  In addition, she has had nine Academic all-Americans and 27 Academic all-District selections during her time with the team. 

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During the 2012 campaign, Patberg lifted the team to its first NCAA Final Four appearance, and claimed a win over Wheaton College (Ill.) in the semifinals to give the Eagles' a berth into the NCAA Championship game.  

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Patberg guided the Eagles to a record-setting campaign in 2011, recording the first undefeated regular season in Emory Athletics history and matching the program record for wins in a season with a 17-1-2 overall record.  The Eagles advanced to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships, marking the team's third trip to the sectionals of the tournament under Patberg.  Emory's 2011 squad also set program records for goals-against average (0.24) and shutouts (16).  For her efforts during the season, she was named the NSCAA/Mondo South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.

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Patberg became the first Emory coach to lead the team to back-to-back 16 win seasons, accomplishing the feat during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.  In 2010, she once again reached the 16-win plateau, guiding the squad to a 16-2-4 record and achieving a final national ranking of fifth in the NSCAA season-ending poll, the highest final ranking in the program’s history.

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Of her 30 years of experience as a collegiate head coach, the 12 years before joining Emory were at Division I schools where she earned 146 wins and eight NCAA tournament appearances.

Patberg came to Emory after spending five seasons as head coach at the University of Georgia (2000-2004). While at Georgia, Patberg guided Bulldogs to two NCAA tournament appearances. Her first year at UGA saw her team reach the finals of the Southeastern Conference tournament while in 2001 her team finished with a national ranking of 22nd and third regionally. 

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Before coaching at UGA, Patberg was the first women's soccer coach at the University of Minnesota where she compiled a record of 97-42-9. Her accomplishments at Minnesota were highlighted by five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 1995-99. She also garnered two Big 10 Coach of the Year honors in 1995 and 1997. 

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To go with her collegiate coaching experience she has also been involved on the US National Team level. Patberg was the U.S. under-16 National Team coach from 2003-2005. She also served as an assistant coach on the U.S. under-21 National Team from 2000-2003.

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