Head Coach Joel Bancroft of the Saint Anselm women's soccer program completed his seventh season on the Hilltop in the 2024-25 academic year.

Under Bancroft's guidance, the Hawks have earned a regular spot on both the regional and national rankings with several individual and team accolades to Saint Anselm's credit, including guiding the Hawks to the first NCAA tournament appearances. in program history, earning back-to-back at-large bids to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship in 2021 and 2022.

In 2022, the team closed the season with a 10-7-2 overall record and a 5-6-1 mark in Northeast-10 Conference play after playing to a 1-1 draw against the University of Bridgeport in the First Round of the NCAA postseason. Saint Anselm has made consecutive appearances in the NE10 Semifinal round for the first time since the 1994 and 1995 seasons. A 4-0-0 start for the 2022 squad matched the 1999 team as the only rosters to grab a win in each of their first four matches.

In 2021, the Hawks made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship through an at-large bid. Saint Anselm became just the ninth team in program history to reach 10 wins after posting a 10-6-2 record overall and a 7-5-1 record in NE10 play. The Hawks won their first conference postseason match since the 2006 season with a 1-0 win over Bentley on Nov. 7. Additionally, the team posted a shutout streak of 448:37 minutes, one of the longest in program history.

Through his first three seasons at the helm, Bancroft has racked up 22 wins and saw a dramatic improvement in his team's fortune in 2018. The Hawks recorded a 9-7-1 overall record in 2018 alongside a mark of 9-4-1 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents, making their first postseason appearance since 2013. Saint Anselm also posted nine wins against league opponents in 2018, the most in team history.

Following the season, it was revealed that the Hawks had two All-Conference selections (Caly Farina '20, Micaela Pitts '20) with Farina earning All-Region plaudits from the New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA), the United Soccer Coaches and the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA). The Hawks also earned placement in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings during the year.

After a remarkable 2018, Bancroft and his squad kept the momentum going into 2019, posting a 7-3-7 record. The Hawks sprinted out to their best start in program history, earning a 3-0-2 record against a challenging schedule. Bancroft led the squad to seventh in the United Soccer Coaches East Region rankings and a No. 8 ranking in the official NCAA Division II rankings.

Saint Anselm played four of the top seven regionally-ranked programs across an arduous 2019 season that culminated with four All-Conference selections (Megan Nguyen ’23, Suzanne Cotter ’21, Farina, and Pitts) with Farina and Pitts receiving All-Region honors from the NEWISA. Saint Anselm stayed in contention for a spot in the 2019 NE10 Women’s Soccer Championship until the final day of the regular season.

In Bancroft's first season, the Hawks finished 6-8-2 overall and were in the race for a postseason spot until the final week of the regular season, finishing 4-8-2 in Northeast-10 Conference play. Three Hawks landed spots on the All-NE10 teams, led by third-team choice Corey Murray '19. Freshmen Suzanne Cotter '21 and Nicole White '21 earned spots on the All-Rookie Team, with White leading all of Division II in assists with seven in seven games prior to being sidelined with an injury.

Bancroft came to the Hilltop after spending four seasons on the UMass Lowell coaching staff, including three as the program's head coach. In each of his three years, the River Hawks improved their winning percentage as well as outperformed their America East Preseason ranking, culminating with the program's first America East playoff bid in 2016. Bancroft guided the River Hawks to signature wins over 2015 America East Champion Hartford, 2016 America East Champion Albany as well as rival UNH in 2016.

As a proven recruiter, Bancroft quickly expanded the River Hawks' footprint to all across the nation as well as internationally. His recruits included the program's first high school All-American and first club national champion, as well as players that have been involved with their youth national team programs.

Off the field, the program was recognized for its academic work as the 2015 squad posted the highest GPA in the America East Conference, while the team was a two-time recipient of the Bob Griffin Cup, which recognized the UMass Lowell athletic team with the highest overall GPA.

Prior to his time at UMass Lowell, Bancroft was an assistant coach on the 2012 Penn State University women's soccer team that won the Big Ten Regular Season Championship and finished the season as the national runner-up. Bancroft was involved in all coaching facets at Penn State, including individual coaching sessions, scouting, scheduling, budgeting, recruiting, video analysis and community service.

Bancroft also had several other stops at Bates, Saint Joseph's (Maine), the University of New England, Southern Maine Community College and the University of Southern Maine. While serving as the head coach at St. Joseph's, Bancroft led the team to a program-best 12-7-3 finish and an appearance in the GNAC Championship game, improving the team from a 5-11-3 mark in the previous season.

Bancroft earned his U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) 'B' license in 2004. Bancroft earned his Bachelor's Degree in criminology from the University of Southern Maine.

Bancroft resides in Dover, N.H. with his wife, Erin.

Bancroft Year-by-Year