Lilly Cross begins her second season as assistant coach of the Colonels in 2025 after being named the first full-time assistant in program history in late May 2024.
Cross joined Wilkes after serving as the head women's soccer coach at Keystone College for the past two seasons in 2022 and 2023. As the head coach of the Giants, she was active in all aspects of recruiting, planning of training sessions and scouting reports, organization of fundraisers, arranging transportation and team meals, and managing the budget. As head coach she mentored the conference Rookie of the Year in 2022 and multiple First Team, Second Team, and Honorable Mention student-athletes in 2022 and 2023. Her team received the United Soccer Coaches All-Sportsmanship Team and All-Academic Team awards in 2022. Cross previously served as the head assistant coach at Keystone in 2019 and 2020.
Cross is currently the head coach of the United Women's Soccer (UWS) League 1 Back Mountain Torrent in Dallas, Pa., a position she has held since April of 2023. The Back Mountain Torrent earned the UWS League 2 Championship in 2023 and under her guidance had the league offensive and defensive players of the year, three First Team selections and two Second Team selections.
She also works as a personal trainer since November 2021 at AthElite Performance Training in Scranton, Pa.
Cross was a five-year starter in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) from 2015 through 2019 for Hershey F.C. She was named a WPSL All-Star in 2016.
Cross was a four-year member of the Messiah College (now Messiah University) women's soccer team from 2015 through 2018. During her time at Messiah the team won the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth championship in 2015, 2016, and 2018 and made NCAA Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final 4 appearances including earning National Runner-up in 2016. She was named to the MAC Academic Honor Roll in 2017 and 2018.
She graduated from Messiah College in 2019 with her bachelor’s degree in athletic training and was a four-year member of Messiah’s Athletic Training Student Association.
