Rudy retires after 21 seasons as women's soccer coach

After 21 seasons leading the women’s soccer team, head coach Jim Rudy this week announced his retirement.

Throughout his 28 years of coaching soccer, Rudy established himself as one of the sport’s most consistent winners. He averaged more than 11 wins a season in his career, sporting a 313-160-28 (.653) lifetime women’s coaching record. “I've had a good run here at UMass and am very grateful for the opportunity,” said Rudy.

“We've had some great players, fans and seasons here, but most importantly the women’s soccer program has produced many excellent graduates over the past 21 years. For me, a coach’s graduates are the most critical litmus test of the program’s success and we’ve graduated nearly all of them,” he said.

“Jim has been a vital part of the athletic department for more than two decades and we truly value his time spent working with our student-athletes,” said athletic director John McCutcheon. “We wish him the best in all his future endeavors and know that he will always be part of the tremendous history of UMass women’s soccer.”

McCutcheon said a national search for a new coach will begin immediately. “We want to continue to build the program to be competitive in the Atlantic 10 and on a regional and national level.”

In his career, Rudy directed his teams into NCAA postseason play 13 times, including nine of his 21 seasons at UMass. Rudy holds the distinct honor of being the only coach in the women’s collegiate ranks to guide two different schools to the Final Four. Rudy directed the University of Central Florida Golden Knights to the national championship game in 1982 and to the national semifinals in 1987. He then guided Massachusetts to the national semifinals in 1993, falling to eventual champion North Carolina, 4-1.

Rudy trained some of soccer’s top names. He coached 37 All-America selections, as well as two Hermann Trophy recipients. UCF’s Michelle Akers (1988) and UMass’ April Kater (1990) were both recognized as the nation’s best women’s collegiate soccer player.

Briana Scurry, who played at UMass from 1990-93, won the Missouri Athletic Club/adidas Goalkeeper of the Year award in 1993, while Akers captured the award in 1987. Both Scurry and Akers have been pivotal forces in the United States National Team’s performances worldwide, including winning a gold medal at the 1996 and 2004 Olympic Games, and the 1999 World Cup crown. Scurry captured a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Rudy compiled a 239-137-22 (.628) record with the Minutewomen. UMass won the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship once and the tournament title four times since the birth of A-10 soccer in 1993. The three-time A-10 Coach of the Year produced six conference Player of the Year selections as well as four A-10 Tournament MVPs and over 50 All-Conference honorees. He won his 200th game with the Minutewomen on Sept. 27, 2004, a 4-1 victory over Holy Cross and became just the ninth coach in NCAA history to win his 300th career game on Sept. 7, 2007, with a 2-1 triumph over Iona.

Prior to arriving at UMass, Rudy coached both the men’s and women’s teams at UCF. He compiled a record of 129-58-16 from 1975-87 with the men’s team, while posting a 74-23-6 mark in seven seasons at the helm of the women’s program from 1981-87. He brought both teams to the NCAA Tournament with the women making three appearances, and the men making back-to-back appearances in 1982 and 1983). For all of his accomplishments as a coach at UCF, Rudy was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame in 2001.

Photo courtesy of UMass Athletics

May 28, 2009.

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