Sean Avila

Sean Avila

The 2023 season will be the eighth for Sean Avila as an assistant coach at Lake Forest College. He works with the team's goalkeepers.

The 2022 Foresters went 5-1-2 in Midwest Conference play and captured their second league title since Avila joined the staff. They also won the MWC Tournament and earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in his tenure. Goalkeeper Szymon Mocarski led the conference in save percentahe (.844), goals against average (0.63), and shutouts (4) and was named MWC Defensive Player of the Year.

Lake Forest is 58-53-7 overall and 38-12-2 in the conference with a pair of league titles and NCAA Tournament appearance during Avila's seven seasons on staff. During that time the Foresters earned a spot in the four-team MWC Tournament in five of the six years the event was held and the team's goalkeepers recorded 28 shutouts.

Avila played four years at nearby Trinity International University, where he served as the Trojan's primary goalkeeper as a senior after splitting time at the position his junior year. He finished his career with 140 saves and four shutouts and graduated with a degree in social sciences. During his college career he spent two weeks in San Jose Costa Rica on a soccer missions trip.

Avila was a member of the Lincolnshire Lightning from 2011-15 and he also coached a youth team in the same organization. During the summer of 2015 he played professionally in the Brisbane Premier League of Australia. There he helped lead the Logan Lightning to six victories, six losses, and 10 draws.

A native of nearby Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, Avila was an honorable mention all-conference selection at Zion-Benton High School.