Elyse Diamond has been an integral member of Mercer’s Athletics network for more than three decades, but her soccer career began well before she stepped foot on Mercer’s campus. While playing soccer at nearby Hamilton West High School, Elyse earned the distinction of High School All-American, and set a record by scoring 112 goals in three years – a record that is still unbroken today.
As an MCCC student-athlete, Elyse distinguished herself as MCCC’s 1st Women’s Soccer All-American (1983), and further made a name for herself by becoming Mercer’s all-time leading goal scorer, with an unbroken record of 118 goals scored in just two years. As a member of the 1982-1983 U.S Select Team, Elyse led the team in friendly matches against Denmark, Sweden, and Germany.
After graduating from Mercer in 1984, Elyse received a scholarship to attend Rutgers University and lead as Captain of the first Rutgers Women’s Varsity Soccer team. During her time at Rutgers, Elyse set a single-season scoring record of 15 goals – a record that has only recently been broken by Carli Lloyd.
Elyse’s remarkable academic and athletic successes carved a special spot for her in her hometown school district, where she happily taught and coached for over 30 years. Elyse taught Health and Physical Education to 12th grade students at Nottingham High School for 30 years, and to adolescents at Renyolds Middle School for two years. Additionally, Elyse coached Girl’s Varsity soccer for 25 years, Freshman Girl’s basketball for six years, Girl’s track for three years, and softball for two years. During her time as a coach at Nottingham High School, Elyse recorded over 230 Varsity wins, had the luxury of coaching two all Americans (1989 Erin Wingerter; 1994 Jessica Gonzalez), and had the unique experience of coaching her two daughters – Kelly as a Junior and Senior, and Katie as a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. She also served as one of the first instructors for Nottingham’s after-school drivers education program.
In addition to the time she spent coaching High School level sports, Elyse volunteered her time as a travel-team Girl’s soccer coach. Elyse started the Hibernian Xcel team, originally comprised of players under nine years old, and passed the team on when the girls were old enough to enter High School.
In 1997, Elyse became the first female soccer player to be inducted into the Mercer County Soccer Hall of Fame. She has also been inducted into the Steinert High School Hall of Fame (recognized as a Coach, alongside her mentor, Bob Pivovarnick, for coaching the 1988 State Championship Team), and the Hamilton West High School Hall of Fame (as a player).
Currently, Elyse coaches Women’s Soccer at Mercer County Community College, with a 36/34/4 win/lose/tie record. Elyse particularly cherishes the memory of coaching seven rising Nottingham High School graduates, who went on to play soccer at MCCC during her first year as the Women’s Soccer head coach. Elyse is joined tonight by her mother, Marylou Eichman, her daughter, Katie Diamond ‘16, her friends, Carlo DeHart, Peggy Howell and Marty Masseroni, her Assistant Coaches, Cindy Soffel and Karissa Estelle, and her current team captains, Giuliana Pocino, Gabi DeLisa, and Toni Catelli.
