STOCKTON, Calif. – The first staffing hire of Pacific women's soccer Head Coach Jeff Freeman was made Tuesday afternoon, welcoming Joel Bancroft as Assistant Coach.

As head coach of the Saint Anselm College women's soccer team for eight years and seven straight winning seasons, Bancroft compiled an overall record of 54-41-29 (.552), including a 36-32-19 record (.523) in Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) play. Bancroft collected five appearances in NE10 Playoffs, three appearances in NE10 Semi-final and two appearances in NCAA Championships.

 "I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to serve Coach Freeman and the wonderful student athletes within the Pacific Women's Soccer Program," Bancroft said. "My time on campus was filled with positive impressions, but the most indelible by far was the people in and around this program and community. I'm so grateful for this opportunity and can't wait to get started! Go Tigers!"

During his tenure at Saint Anselm, Bancroft guided the Hawks to a consistent position in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings. He also helped the program climb to as high as No. 23 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II national poll in 2023, marking the program's highest national ranking since 1997 and its first ranking overall since 1998. Bancroft coached 30 student-athletes to NE10 All-Conference recognition while at Saint Anselm.

"Joel is a tremendous leader built around fostering relationships and developing student athletes in all areas of life and soccer," Freeman said. "He has a wealth of knowledge, is tactically savvy, and brings some tremendous head coaching experience with him!  I couldn't be more excited to have Joel on board helping push Pacific soccer into this new era!"

Bancroft's coaching background also includes stops at UMass Lowell where he was a head coach for three seasons (2014-2016), and at Penn State where he was an assistant coach from 2012 to 2013. 

Bancroft took over the head coaching duties at UML in 2014, inheriting a 1-16-1 record. With a focus on the development of athletic skills of previous Division II athletes, and the addition of new high impact recruits, Bancroft led the River Hawks to an America East playoff berth in 2016, one year before the program was NCAA-eligible after its 2013 transition from Division II to Division I.

Before the Riverhawks, Bancroft was heavily involved in the day-to-day program operations including scouting, scheduling, budgeting, and on-campus recruiting under the mentorship of head coach Erica Walsh, who was named 2012 National Coach of the Year.

A Dover, New Hampshire native, Bancroft graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a Criminology degree in 2011 and is expected to earn his master's in Exercise Science & Coaching in May 2025.

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