University of Delaware Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
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2024 marks the second season as an assistant coach for the Blue Hens women's soccer program for Vink-Linas.
The Delaware women’s soccer program in 2024 earned their first trip to the CAA Tournament since the 2019 season. During the 2024 campaign, the Blue Hens started off conference play 4-0, while also winning five games in a row. It was the best stretch for the program since 2011. During the stretch, the Blue Hens had late game heroics from Maggie Groh and Brooke Vogel, as the two scored game winning goals to defeat Hofstra and Campbell.
In 2024, Kyla Burns became the first Blue Hen in program history to earn the conference goalkeeper of the year. Burns also earned first team All-Conference honors, along with Conny Viehmann, Carly Binn, Caitin St. Leger, Brooke Vogel and Olivia Bley all earned all-conference honors.
The Delaware defense allowed six goals in 10 CAA contests. They had seven shutouts in CAA play and eight throughout the season.
In just her first season, the Blue Hens women’s soccer program made big strides. Coley played a role in defeating Syracuse 1-0. It was the program’s first ever win over a power-five school. The Blue Hens picked up a victory over La Salle on the road for the first time since 1994, and tied the program record for goals in a game in its 9-1 win over Hampton.
The Blue Hens shutout opponents six times in 2023, including a shutout over the CAA Regular Season and Tournament Champions Towson. Their defense allowed the least amount of goals in the conference (13), leading to the second best goals against average in the conference of 0.72. Both those marks rank third all time in program history, and is the defensive season for the Blue Hens since 2009.
Before arriving at University of Delaware, Vink-Lainas coached in central Illinois for four years with FC Central Illinois and Central Illinois United. She was the Girls' Assistant Director of Coaching for FC Central Illinois where, in addition to her head coaching duties, she was responsible for player development and coach education. At Central Illinois United, she held head and assistant coaching positions for ECNL RL, USYS Midwest Conference, and pre-Girls Academy teams.
Collegiately, she played at Penn State University, winning the 2015 Division I NCAA National Championship, three Big Ten Conference Championships, and one Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship. She was named Academic All-Big Ten in 2015 and 2016.
After college, Vink-Lainas played internationally, earning caps for the Estonian Women’s National Team and playing for FC Flora Tallinn in the top Estonian and Baltic Region leagues.
Vink-Lainas holds a USSF D License and is in the process of completing her USSF C License. She graduated from Penn State University with a BS in Biomedical Engineering and Illinois State University with a MS in Biological Sciences – Neuroscience and Physiology.
