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On
October 15, The College of New Jersey women's soccer team defeated NJAC
rival Rowan 3-0 to give Lion head coach Joe Russo his 250th career
women's soccer head coaching victory.
Russo is currently in his 14th season at the helm of TCNJ’s
women’s soccer program. He earned his 100th win when the
Lions defeated Kean College, 7-0, on October 18, 1995, and his 200th
career win on November 4, 2000 as TCNJ beat Messiah College, 1-0 in
triple overtime, in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game.
Under his guidance, the Lions have earned 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament
bids and won three NCAA crowns (1993, ’94, and 2000).
Since women’s soccer was introduced as an NJAC sponsored sport in 1994,
Russo and his squads have won all but one of nine possible conference
titles. He has been tapped as the NJAC Coach of the Year seven times
with the last selection being in 2002.
The program has produced 18 NSCAA All-Americans, all under Russo. The
1995 and 2000 NSCAA Division III Players of the Year were products of
TCNJ’s women’s soccer program.
In 1993, Russo's team wrapped up the season by capturing the program’s
first NCAA Division III National Championship when they defeated
Plymouth State College, 4-0. TCNJ finished with a 20-1-3 record,
setting a school record for most shutouts in the process. He was chosen
as the NSCAA/Umbro Division III National Coach of the Year after earning
the honor for the NSCAA Division III Southeast Region as well as the top
honor as New Jersey's Collegiate Coach of the Year.
Russo was named both the 1991 and 1992 NJ College Division Women's
Soccer Coach of the Year by the NJ College Soccer Coaches’ Association
and was named the NSCAA/Umbro Northeast Coach of the Year for the 1992
season. During the summer of 1995, he joined TCNJ’s Athletic Department
on a full-time basis as the program's first full-time head coach. Russo
is a six-time honoree as the NJ College Coach of the Year after picking
up the honor last in 1999. |