Samantha "Sam" Turner joined the University of Toledo women's soccer program as an assistant coach in January 2023.
A native of Carmel, Ind., Turner (formerly Tiongson) was a goalkeeper for the Rockets from 2012-15 and returns to the Glass City after serving as an assistant coach at Ohio Northern University under Batman during the 2022 season.
Turner spent the 2022 season as an assistant coach under Batman, helping ONU to a 14-2-5 record and an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular season title, the OAC tournament title, and a berth into the NCAA Tournament, where the Polar Bears advanced to the second round.
Before her time at Ohio Northern, Turner spent three seasons from 2019-21 as the head goalkeeping coach and assistant varsity coach at Sylvania Northview High School. She was named Northern Lakes League (NLL) 2019 Assistant Coach of the Year and NWOSSCA 2020 Assistant Coach of the Year. Turner made her coaching debut at St. Francis De Sales High School in 2017 and was the goalkeeper and assistant varsity coach at Ottawa Hills High School for the 2018 season.
During her time at Toledo, Turner also worked with the Toledo Celtics Soccer Club (2014-19) training players ages 8-18 by creating, planning, and running training sessions. Following her time with the Celtics, she went to Pacesetter Soccer Club where she had been working since 2019.
Turner graduated from Toledo in May 2016 with a degree in exercise science. She played professional soccer for the Toledo Villa FC Women's Team in 2017. Sam and her husband, Travis, were married in January 2024.
Turner ranks fifth in career wins (18) and saves (174), third in solo shutouts (13), and fourth in minutes played (4,957.21) at Toledo. She has the fifth-most minutes (1,842:45) played in a single season and fourth-most saves (13) in a single match. She appeared in 58 contests over her four seasons and was a two-time Academic All-MAC honoree.
