Kempainen enters her second season as an assistant coach for the Eagles after arriving from the University of St. Thomas.
In her first campaign with the Eagles, Kempainen helped guide FGCU to its championship-winning season at 12-5-5 overall and 7-1-3 in the ASUN, earning the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. In the ASUN Championship match, FGCU faced a daunting three-goal deficit against North Alabama, but sophomore Erika Zschuppe exploded for a hat trick to send the contest to overtime. The Eagles completed the thrilling come-from-behind win, advancing 3-2 on penalty kicks, to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in program history. FGCU held second-seeded Texas Tech scoreless for nearly 80 minutes in the NCAA First Round before falling 1-0. The Eagles landed on SportsCenter Top 10 not once but three times in 2023. Freshman goalkeeper Olivia Molina broke the FGCU single-season save record with a program-record 117 saves. Head coach Jim Blankenship recorded his 200th win at FGCU and now has emerged as the eighth active winningest coach in all of Division I women's soccer. Four Eagles earned First Team All-ASUN honors as midfielder Ashley Labbe, midfielder Zschuppe, defender Reese Mendenhall and midfielder Kendal Gargiula made the list. Midfielder Katharina Oelschlaeger landed on the Third Team, and goalkeeper Olivia Molina appeared on the All-Freshman Team. Both Zschuppe and Molina made the TopDrawerSoccer’s Top 100 list, while Labbe earned United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Third Team honors and Scholar All-South Region recognition.
At St. Thomas, she took part in the Tommies' second year of transition from a Division III to a Division I program. In her first season, St. Thomas started off strong with a 6-2-3 record, even winning its first road Summit League game in program history against North Dakota State University. She also helped the program's growth by having student athletes work with the exercise science department and introducing polar technology.
Kempainen brings an extensive history of coaching at the club and high school levels in Alabama and Minnesota. Prior to St. Thomas, she made a stop at Alabama State University. In spring 2021, Kempainen helped lead Alabama State through an unprecedented COVID-19 season in which the team won its third conference title in five years and had an undefeated run through the conference regular season and conference tournament. The Lady Hornets posted four shutouts during conference play on their way to the NCAA Tournament, where they faced nationally ranked Pennsylvania State University in the first round.
