On July 7, 2025, UC Davis women's soccer head coach Kat Mertz announced the addition of Abbie Faingold as an assistant coach, bringing a professional playing background and extensive goalkeeping coaching experience to the Aggies' staff. The 2025 season is Faingold’s first season with the Aggies, and rounds out head coach Kat Mertz’s inaugural staff.
Faingold currently serves as Goalkeeper Trainer for Blues FC in Roseville, where she conducts group training sessions for all club goalkeepers and provides evaluations to coaches. Faingold's most recent coaching stop at the collegiate level was at Jessup University, where she was responsible for goalkeeper preparation, training and analysis, along with recruitment, travel coordination, team film analysis and fundraising duties.
Faingold's other past coaching experience includes serving as a Goalkeeping Coach Assistant at FC Portland from 2018-2019, as well as working with goalkeepers across all age groups, and providing private goalkeeper training for more than seven years for athletes ages 8-18.
As a professional player (2018-2023), Faingold competed in Japan, Israel, France and Cyprus. Faingold also has competed at the semi-professional level locally, for the California Storm. In addition to this, Faingold's collegiate career at Portland State University featured All-Big Sky Tournament Team selection (2017), two Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honors (Oct. 10, 2017 and Aug. 21, 2018), UTRGV Tournament All-Tournament Team recognition, a gold medal with Maccabi USA at the 2015 European Maccabi Games, and two Academic All-Big Sky selections (2016, 2017).
"We are excited to welcome Abbie Faingold to our coaching staff," said Mertz. "She comes highly recommended as a quality coach with a wealth of knowledge and experience. As a talented goalkeeper who played professionally, Abbie will be an invaluable resource in developing and mentoring our GK Union and guiding our players on their own professional pathways."
Faingold earned her Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Portland State University, with double minors in Law & Legal Studies and Psychology.
