SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The University of California, Riverside women's soccer head coach Nathaniel Gonzalez has joined the Puerto Rican Football Federation (FPF) as the new head coach for its Women's National Team. This appointment for Coach Gonzalez is in addition to his current position as head Coach of UC Riverside's women's soccer team.
 
Coach Gonzalez joins an impressive list of Highlander coaches over the last three years who have been bestowed with the honor of coaching national teams in addition to their current head coaching roles at UCR. This list includes softball head coach Nikki Palmer (Israel National Team, 2021) and former men's basketball head coach David Patrick (Australian National Team, 2019).
 
"I am honored to be selected to lead the Puerto Rican Women's National Soccer Team," said Coach Gonzalez.  "The opportunity to be able to coach at the highest levels of your sport and prepare for a World Cup for Puerto Rico which is where my mother and late father are from, is amazing. Also, this experience will help me elevate the profile of our UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team. I want to thank our Interim Director of Athletics, Wes Mallette, and our Campus leadership for their support in helping me pursue this dream."
 
"I am incredibly proud of Coach Gonzalez," said Interim Director of Athletics Wesley Mallette. "Nat has been nothing short of outstanding as a coach, a leader and a mentor for our Highlander student-athletes. The students he has coached during his time here have benefited greatly from both his infinite knowledge and passion for the beautiful game. He is a difference maker, and this is an incredible honor for him to lead the Puerto Rican Women's National Team. We could not be happier for him and our program here at UCR."
 
"We welcome Nat Gonzalez to the FPF National Program as coach of the Women's National Team. We are very excited about him," expressed FPF President Ivan E. Rivera Gutierrez. "We know he will have a lot of work on his hands heading into the World Cup qualifiers, and we are going to give him all the support he needs."
 
Gonzalez, who has been the women's soccer coach at the University of California at Riverside since 2011, has more than 25 years of experience as a coach in different facets and equipment.

Prior to joining the Highlanders in 2000, Gonzalez had assistant coaching stops at Cal Poly Pomona and the University of Washington. During his time in Seattle, Gonzalez helped the Huskies to consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) titles in 1998 and 1999. The team posted a 61-15-5 record over his five years.

Gonzalez was a four-year letter winner at UCLA from 1988-91, won a national championship with the Bruins in 1990, and graduated with a degree in psychology. He served as the women's team's goal keeping coach from 1994-95.
 
Coach Gonzalez will be at the helm of the Blue Hurricane in the CONCACAF women's qualifiers en route to the FIFA World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.
 
Puerto Rico will play in Group A along with Mexico, ranked 28th in the FIFA world ranking; Suriname (129th), Antigua and Barbuda (160th) and Anguilla (unranked).
 
The qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA World Cup will be staged next November and April 2022.