ELKINS, W.Va. — The thought of life without soccer wasn’t sitting well with Karisa Fernandez.

That’s when Davis & Elkins College came calling.

After four seasons as a women’s soccer coach at California (Pa.) University — the last two as head coach — Gene Smith took the reins at Davis & Elkins last January and soon went looking for an assistant coach.

“I knew Karisa (a Seneca Valley High School and Edinboro University graduate) from when I coached against her at Cal,” said Smith. “There were five or six candidates for the assistant job here. She interviewed and it progressed from there.”

Fernandez beat out the other candidates and joined Smith at the Division II school, which competes in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Fernandez helped Seneca Valley capture the first WPIAL title in program history in 2007, then starred for Edinboro from 2009-12, scoring 34 goals and 20 assists in her collegiate career. She was a student assistant coach for the Fighting Scots in 2013.

“My one season of coaching at Edinboro was a good transition year for me,” said Fernandez. “I learned so much from the coaches there, Gary Kagiavas, Jamie Sallie and Buddy (Hoenigman). They taught me that if you have a rough game, there’s always another day. Stay positive and work hard.

“After the (2013) season, at that point I wasn’t involved with soccer,” she added. “When you are away from a sport for a while, it starts to eat at you. Then I got called about this opportunity.”

Fernandez played a vital role in the Senators going 9-5-4 this past season, including 7-1-2 in conference play.

“The biggest thing with Karisa is her love of the game,” Smith said. “She has a passion for it and she loves teaching it.”

Fernandez also found the recruiting aspect of coaching to her liking.

“I’ve been bubbly from the get-go,” she said. “So recruiting fits my personality.”

Fernandez has laid a solid foundation toward what she hopes is a long coaching career.

“My ultimate goal is to be a head coach of a college team,” she said, “but that’s way down the road. I’m happy with where I am at right now. Soccer has opened so many doors for me.”