A former four-year player at USC who has extensive coaching experience, Shannon Cross returns for her eighth season as an assistant coach for the Cal State LA women’s soccer program. Cross has been a valuable member of a coaching staff that has led the Golden Eagles to great success.
She helped the Golden Eagles to another successful season in 2023, highlighted by a second straight trip to the NCAA playoffs and a program-record 15-match unbeaten streak. Cal State LA had an overall record of 9-3-9 and was unbeaten in conference play while finishing third in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with a 5-0-6 mark.
Cal State LA qualified for the CCAA Tournament for the 10th straight season and beat Chico State, 1-0, to advance to the semifinals for a third straight season. The Golden Eagles earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA West Regional and reached the second round after a penalty-kick advancement against Simon Fraser.
Cross helped the team to another outstanding defensive performance. Cal State LA led the CCAA and was No. 6 in the nation in goals against average at 0.471 and No. 4 in the nation in saves percentage at .878. The Golden Eagles recorded 12 shutouts, which was one shy of the program record set one year earlier.
Cross has assisted the Golden Eagles to an overall record of 54-36-24 in her first six seasons with the program. Cal State LA has reached the CCAA Tournament in all six seasons.
Cross helped the Golden Eagles to an 11-4-6 overall record in 2022 that included a 5-1-5 mark in CCAA play. Cal State LA finished third in the conference, just three points out of first place. The Golden Eagles, as the No. 3 seed, then posted consecutive shutouts over No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona (2-0), No. 2 Stanislaus State (1-0) and tournament host and No. 1 seed Sonoma State (1-0) to win the conference crown for the first time since 2014.
Cal State LA was ranked 24th in the nation in the end-of-the-season poll by the United Soccer Coaches. The Golden Eagles were included in the final end-of-the-year rankings for the first time since 2014.
Cross helped the Golden Eagles get back on the field in 2021 after the 2020 season was canceled by COVID. Cal State LA had an extremely young squad in 2021, but finished the season with a 6-3-1 charge and qualified for the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament for an eighth straight season.
Prior to COVID, Cross helped the Golden Eagles to a historic 2019 season. The Golden Eagles picked up their first-ever road victory in the NCAA playoffs after advancing to the tournament for the first time since 2014. Cal State LA recorded a 9-8-1 overall record.
The Golden Eagles had a 10-6-2 record in 2018, including a 6-4-2 mark in conference play.
In her first year with the program, the Golden Eagles were 9-5-3 overall, including 7-3-2 in conference action, in 2017.
Cross has also been an effective coach at the high school level. She was an assistant coach at Harvard-Westlake School for 12 seasons, winning a CIF Regional championship in 2009, and has been an assistant coach for the past seven years at Mira Costa High School, where she was an All-CIF player. Mira Costa won the CIF-SS championship for the 2019-20 season after making both the CIF-SS and Regional Finals in the 2018-19 season. In the 2023-24 season, Mira Costa added another Bay league championship and was selected to the inaugural CIF Open Division Championships, advancing to the semi-finals and followed that up with an appearance in the semi-finals of the Regional Championships.
She was also an assistant coach at the University of New Mexico in 2009-10 and helped the team win a Mountain West Conference title and make the first NCAA appearance in program history.
Cross had a successful playing career that included pro and semi-pro experiences. She was a professional player for the OC Waves in 2011 and she played for the Ajax American Women semi-pro team for six years before that, winning national championships in 2007, 2008, and 2011.
Cross was a four-year player at USC, appearing in a total of 53 games with 14 starts. She had 11 goals and five assists during her playing career, including seven game-winning goals, which is still among the USC career leaders.
Cross graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from USC and earned her Master’s degree in Kinesiology, Sport and Exercise Psychology from Cal State Long Beach. She completed her Doctor of Education (EdD) focused in Kinesiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in August of 2020.
