Ashley O'Brien

Biography

Ashley O'Brien is an Assistant Coach at Cornell University since 2023. Before coming to Cornell, O'Brien spent last season as an assistant coach at Canisius University, where she assisted with creating practice plans and workouts, specializing in defense and goalie training, and helped coordinate team fundraisers and monitor student-athlete academic progress. She also brings head coaching experience from Division III Buffalo State (2018-22), where she amassed 25 wins and two consecutive quarterfinal appearances in the SUNYAC Tournament in 2018 and 2019. As a player, O'Brien was a four-year starter goalkeeper for Buffalo State from 2008-11, earning three student-athlete awards. She was a two-time All-SUNYAC first team selection and helped guide the Bengals to their winningest season in program history in 2009 (16-2) with a finish ranked 19th in Division III. She holds the school record for career saves with 556 and the lowest career goals against average at 9.51. O'Brien earned a B.A. in Psychology from SUNY Buffalo State in 2012 and an M.A. in Biology in 2020.