Lombardo Retires After 28 Years at Helm of JMU Women’s Soccer

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Dave Lombardo, the only head coach in the 28-year history of James Madison women's soccer, announced his retirement on Wednesday afternoon after amassing 337 victories at the helm of the Dukes.

"It has been an honor and privilege to be the head coach of this program for the past 28 years," Lombardo said. "In that span, I have been blessed to be part of the lives of nearly 300 amazing and talented young women. I had the thrill of growing it from a startup program in 1990 to watching it evolve into one of the most competitive and respected programs in the country. Most programs count themselves as successful if they make one NCAA tournament appearance; we had 11. I went to work every day knowing that I got to do exactly what I wanted to do as a career. Not everyone gets that peace of mind."

Lombardo retired ranked 12^th for all-time victories among NCAA Division I women's soccer head coaches with 415 total wins in 35 years. At the time of his retirement, he was also sixth among active Division I head coaches in all-time victories. Lombardo has guided teams to 12 NCAA appearances, including 11 at JMU (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015). The five consecutive NCAA appearances from 1995 through 1999 helped the Dukes post the 12^th-most victories among all Division I programs for the decade of the 1990s.

"Dave Lombardo has had an unparalleled run of success with JMU women's soccer," JMU Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne said. "Taking a program from inception, experiencing immediate success and sustaining that success for 28 years is an incredible achievement. Even more amazing than the on-field success, Dave has been a leader, mentor and influencer for hundreds of student-athletes. He embodies everything we strive for in terms of the student-athlete experience found at James Madison University. We are proud of his achievements and wish him the best in his retirement."

The Dukes were winners from day one under Lombardo, going 11-7 in the first season of varsity competition in 1990. Since that launch, he went 337-222-35 in 594 matches for a .597 winning percentage at JMU. He posted a winning record in 23 of his 28 seasons while each of the five non-winning campaigns fell near .500.

JMU won four CAA Championships under Lombardo, tied for second-most among all CAA programs since the league's launch in 1993. In 25 CAA campaigns, the Dukes posted a winning conference mark in 23 and finished atop the league standings three times. JMU reached at least the semifinals of the CAA Championship in 16 of the 25 seasons.

Lombardo was named CAA Coach of the Year in 1996, 2007 and 2013. He was also honored as Virginia's Coach of the Year in 1995, 1996 and 2007 and was the Met Life National Coach of the Year in 1983 while coaching at Keene State.

A total of 83 Dukes earned All-CAA selections under Lombardo's watch, including 2008 CAA Player of the Year Corky Julien and 2016 CAA Player of the Year Ashley Herndon.

Prior to JMU, Lombardo went 78-35-8 in seven seasons at the helm of Keene State from 1981-1987. He was later inducted into the school's Hall of Fame for his career coaching achievements with the Owls.

JMU will commence an immediate national search for a new women's soccer head coach.

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