Charlotte Coach Brandi Fontaine Hires Assistant Familiar With Championships
Charlotte Women’s Soccer head coach Brandi Fontaine announced Erika Yohn as an assistant coach on her staff on Monday (Feb. 17).
“We are excited to welcome Erika to the Niner Nation family,” Fontaine said. “Erika comes to us with a strong background in working with goalkeepers. Not only did she have a successful career at Purdue as a player, but she has also helped to build successful careers at West Virginia and Howard. Erika has worked with and been a part of programs that have won championships. With coming off of just winning the NEC Championship this past fall, we know she will help elevate us as we look to capture a championship here at Charlotte.”
Yohn comes to Charlotte after two years as the Goalkeeper Coach at Howard University, where she helped the Bison reach the conference semifinals in the Northeast Conference both seasons. Howard swept both the regular season and conference tournament championships this past year in 2024, putting the Bison back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018. Yohn’s work with goalkeeper Trinity Knox played a big role in Howard’s success the last two seasons as Knox took home back-to-back NEC Goalkeeper of the Year awards, in addition to the Bison sweeping the NEC Defensive, Midfield, Rookie, and Coach of the Year awards.
“I am so grateful to Brandi for the opportunity to join an incredible staff and community here at Charlotte,” Yohn said. “The atmosphere and people here are clearly dedicated to excellence and I am excited to help contribute to a culture of success. It’s clear we can win championships and guide our players into becoming amazing people here. I’m looking forward to representing this prestigious institution.”
Before her time at Howard, Yohn served as a volunteer assistant at West Virginia, serving as WVU’s goalkeeper coach and assisting with the team’s daily training sessions. In 2022 she helped the Mountaineers win the Big 12 Tournament Championship and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Yohn helped Kayza Massey win Big 12 Co-Goalkeeper of the Year honors in addition to United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Third Team and All-Big 12 First Team selections. Massey backstopped West Virginia to 10 shutouts that year – the 13th-most clean sheets in the nation, and a .786 save percentage while becoming the first goalkeeper in program history to be named a conference Goalkeeper of the Year.
Yohn began her coaching career back at Howard as a volunteer assistant, helping the Bison win the Southwestern Athletic Conference Regular-Season title and finish as a finalist in the SWAC Tournament in 2019. Howard’s keeper took home First Team All-SWAC honors that year and was named the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year.
Yohn played her collegiate soccer in the Big Ten at Purdue from 2014-17. She served as a team captain her senior year and helped guide the Boilermakers to the program’s first postseason appearance in nine seasons. Yohn still ranks inside Purdue’s top-10 career ranks for goalkeepers in minutes played, wins, save percentage, and fewest goals allowed. Yohn also took home three consecutive Academic All-Big Ten honors and was a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.
Yohn holds a USSF “B” License and a USSF Goalkeeping “C” License.