| Title: | Assistant Coach |
| Year: | 4th |
| Degree: | BA, Non-Government Organizations and Social Change, Universitry of Southern California '16 |
| Degree: | MBA, Non-Profit Management and Finance, Atkinson Graduate School of Management '18 |
Whitney Pitalo is in her fourth year as an assistant coach for the Willamette University women's soccer team in 2019. Prior to joining Willamette, Pitalo was a women’s soccer player at the University of Southern California for the 2012-15 seasons. She helped USC qualify for the NCAA Division I National Tournament in 2014 and 2015, which led to USC winning its second NCAA Championship in 2016.
As a college player, Pitalo was a four-year varsity player for USC. She was a utility player who started at four different positions during her four years, as she competed at winger, outside back, center back, and forward. She was a team captain as a senior in 2015.
At USC, she was selected as USC's Student-Athlete of the Month three times and was PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Week during her junior year. As a senior in 2015, she helped the Women of Troy reach the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Division I National Tournament. USC finished second in the PAC-12 Conference in 2015, edged out by Stanford University. During all four years, Pitalo received PAC-12 Academic All-Conference recognition and was a USC Scholar Student-Athlete. She was one of 23 student-athletes to receive the PAC-12 Postgraduate Scholarship to attend graduate school. She chose the Willamette Atkinson Graduate School of Management.
Pitalo received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Non-Government Organizations and Social Change and a minor in Business from USC in 2016. She received a Master of Business Administration degree in Non-Profit Management and Finance from the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette in 2018.
In addition to coaching the Bearcats, Pitalo created the Capital FC Timbers Women's Semi-Professional Team that she manages and plays on in the summer. Regionally, Pitalo is the Salem Girls 2006-07 head coach for the Timbers RTC Program and is an assistant coach with the Olympic Development Program 2002-03 Girls Team. Pitalo resides in Salem.