Michele Dalton enters her second season as an assistant coach at WKU in 2021. Dalton’s primary roles include training, mentorship and development of the team's goalkeepers.
The 2020 season was played in the spring of 2021 and WKU made the most of it. The Lady Toppers claimed the Conference USA East Division regular season title after going 4-0-2 in league play. WKU rattled off a 10-match unbeaten streak in the season that stretched to the postseason where the Lady Toppers shut out UAB 1-0 to win in the C-USA tournament for the first time since joining the league. The WKU goalkeeping core along with the backline held opponents to 13 goals on the season which is tied for the second fewest by a WKU team in program history.
Overall, WKU student-athletes claimed over 20 awards on the season, including Ambere Barnett's United Soccer Coaches All-America Third Team honors along with being named the C-USA Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year.
Dalton came to The Hill after spending the 2019 season at DePaul University as a volunteer assistant/goalkeeper coach.
The Mt. Prospect, Illinois native enjoyed a standout playing career that included her four years as a goalkeeper at Wisconsin (2007-11). With the Badgers, Dalton was named the 2011 Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, along with First Team All-Conference and NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honors. She was also tabbed as the team’s MVP twice. She currently holds the second most saves per game (4.707) and fifth for career shutouts (24) in the Badger record book.
Following her collegiate career, Dalton started her professional career playing for UMF Selfoss in the top division in Iceland. She was voted the team’s MVP after shutting out five opponents during the 2013 season. She moved on to play with Kvarnsvedens IK in 2014 in Sweden’s second division.
Dalton signed with the Chicago Red Stars in 2015, playing with the team for three seasons. During her debut season, she led the league in GAA (0.917) and was second in shutouts with five, leading the Red Stars to a franchise-best second place finish that season. For her efforts, Dalton was named a finalist for the CONCACAF Female Goalkeeper of the Year award. In 2018, she signed with the North Carolina Courage as a goalkeeper replacement. Dalton played with Apollon LFC in Cyprus during the 2018-19 season, leading the team to a league championship and a UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification.
Following her playing career, Dalton got into the coaching field. She worked with Camp Shutout in 2018, the largest goalkeeping camp in the country. She spent numerous seasons as a youth goalkeepers coach, including stops with FC United, Eclipse Select and Chicago Empire FC. She was the goalkeeper's coach for the Illinios ODP U15 girls team in 2017. Dalton was also a staff member with PAWS Goalkeeping Academy for several years.
She holds a US Soccer C Coaching License and NSCAA Goalkeeping I and II diplomas.
