Katie Puchino enters her first season as an assistant coach for Fort Hays State Women's Soccer in 2023. Puchino graduated from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2022. She then played one year at Fort Hays State with her extra COVID year of eligibility, starting work on her master's degree.
While at UC-Colorado Springs, Puchino played in 62 contests and made 47 starts, earning an All-RMAC selection her senior year. She helped the Mountain Lions to an overall record of 62-10-3 in her four years on the pitch, which included three RMAC regular season titles, one RMAC Tournament title, and three appearances in the NCAA Championship Tournament. The Mountain Lions' deepest run in the NCAA Tournament occurred her senior year when they reached the Round of 16. She recorded three goals in her career and played over 1,500 minutes in two of her four seasons at UCCS. Puchino earned RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors once during the 2021 season and she was a three-time member of the RMAC Academic Honor Roll.
Puchino made an immediate impact at center back in her one year at Fort Hays State. She earned All-MIAA Third Team honors and helped the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2016 season. She played all but five minutes of the possible 1,890 for the season, starting all 21 contests for the Tigers and notched one goal.
Puchino is a native of Littleton, Colorado.
