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Ray Leone
College: Charlotte 1985
Title: Head Coach
Experience: Third Season
Ray Leone was named the fifth head coach of Harvard
women's soccer on February 22, 2007.
Leone guided the Crimson to a 10-3-5 record in just his second
year at the helm, leading Harvard to its first Ivy League
championship since 1999 and first berth in the NCAA tournament
since 2004. The Crimson went 5-1-1 in the Ivy League and
entered the NCAA tournament on an eight-game unbeaten streak.
Leone also guided six Crimson to All-Ivy League honors, including
Melanie Baskind, Harvard's third Rookie of the Year in a row, and
first-team selections Lizzy Nichols and Katherine Sheeleigh.
For his efforts, Leone was tabbed the Northeast Region Coach of the
Year by Soccer Buzz.
In his first season with the Crimson, the team finished 10-6-1,
and had two NSCAA All-Northeast Region selections in Nichols
and Sheeleigh. Sheeleigh was also named Ivy League Rookie of
the Year after leading Harvard with 16 points on eight goals.
Nichols and Sheeleigh were All-Ivy first-team honorees, while Gina
Wideroff and Lauren Mann were second-team recipients. Nicole Rhodes
earned all-conference honorable mention.
He came to Harvard after six successful seasons at Arizona State,
where he posted a 60-45-4 record. One of the most successful
coaches in women's soccer, Leone carries a wealth of coaching
experience with 17 years as a collegiate head coach. In all, Leone
has posted a career record of 212-112-32 (.640). He ranks in the
top 30 among active Division I head coaches with his 212 victories.
Among active head coaches, Leone currently also ranks 42nd in
winning percentage.
Leone's successes at ASU were not limited to the playing field.
His teams perennially achieved the school's highest grade point
average among its 22 varsity programs. In 2005 the Sun Devils
placed a school record 11 student-athletes on the Academic
All-Pacific-10 Conference team. In all Leone coached nine
All-Pac-10 honorees while guiding the team to a pair of NCAA
tournament appearances and a school-record No. 9 national ranking
in 2004.
Prior to heading the Sun Devils Leone coached at Clemson from
1994-2000. He spent five years as an assistant and one as co-head
coach before being named head coach for the 2000 season-a season
that saw Leone named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year as
the Tigers won a school-record 19 games en route to the ACC regular
season championship. In his seven years at Clemson, the Tigers
finished among the nation's top 15 teams each year with 20
all-league selections. The Clemson squad compiled a record of
16-1-1 in the regular season and earned a No. 1 seed in the ACC
Championship. After reaching the national quarterfinals for the
third time in four years, Leone's team finished with a school
record 19-3-1 overall record and a No. 5 national ranking.
Additionally, 2000 was an unprecedented year at Clemson. Leone
began the season with a school-record 12 straight victories, while
along the way breaking North Carolina's 37-game ACC winning streak.
In doing so, Clemson became the first team in seven years to defeat
UNC in the conference and peaked as high as No. 2 in the national
rankings. In 2000 Leone's players were named the ACC Freshman of
the Year, South Defender of the Year, ACC Goalkeeper of the Year
and National Freshman of the Year.
Additionally, the 1994 Clemson squad was the first team in NCAA
women's soccer history to make the NCAA tournament in its first
varsity season. During Clemson's NCAA tournament runs from
1994-2000, only six other Division I programs advanced to the NCAA
tournament the same number of years (7) as the Tigers.
Leone has not limited himself to coaching at established programs,
having started two collegiate programs prior to working at Clemson.
He started the program at Creighton in 1989, and within five years
guided the Bluejays to a top-five regional ranking. In Leone's
final year at Creighton, he led them to a 14-3-2 record, winning 11
of their last 12 games.
His coaching career started at Berry College (Ga.) in 1986 and he
has the notoriety of being the only coach in collegiate soccer
history to take a first-year program to a national championship
game. The next season, 1987, Leone's team won the national
championship as he earned national coach of the year honors. In a
three-year span at Berry, Leone took his teams to three straight
Final Four appearances. Today, Berry is considered the most
successful program in NAIA history.
Leone is a 1985 graduate of Charlotte having earned his BA in
sociology. As a player at Charlotte, Leone was a three-time
all-conference selection at three different positions. He scored
the winning goal in what still stands as the longest game in Sun
Belt history, a seven-overtime affair in the 49ers' first
conference championship title game. As a senior, Leone received the
David Schlee Memorial Award given to the Charlotte player most
demonstrating his desire to succeed. He earned a masters degree in
sports sciences from the United States Sports Academy in 1990.
In October of 2003, Leone was proudly inducted into the first hall
of fame class at Severna Park High School in Severna Park, Md.
Leone Year-By-Year
| Year
| Wins
| Losses
| Ties
| Pct.
| Notes
|
| Berry (Ga.)
| 49
| 13
| 5
| .769
|
|
| 1986
| 17
| 3
| 2
| .818
| Started program, NAIA Championship Game
|
| 1987
| 18
| 2
| 2
| .864
| NAIA National Champions, NAIA Coach of the Year
|
| 1988
| 14
| 8
| 1
| .630
| NAIA National Semifinals
|
| Creighton
| 50
| 35
| 5
| .583
|
|
| 1989
| 10
| 7
| 0
| .588
| Started program
|
| 1990
| 10
| 7
| 2
| .579
|
|
| 1991
| 10
| 6
| 1
| .618
|
|
| 1992
| 6
| 12
| 0
| .333
|
|
| 1993
| 14
| 3
| 2
| .789
| Ranked 5th in Midwest Region
|
| Clemson
| 33
| 10
| 3
| .750
|
|
| 1999
| 14
| 7
| 2
| .609
| NCAA tournament Quarterfinals
|
| 2000
| 19
| 3
| 1
| .848
| ACC Coach of the Year, NCAA Quarterfinals
|
| Arizona State
| 60
| 45
| 14
| .563
|
|
| 2001
| 10
| 8
| 1
| .553
|
|
| 2002
| 12
| 7
| 2
| .619
| NCAA tournament second round, ranked 17th
|
| 2003
| 13
| 5
| 3
| .690
| NCAA tournament second round, ranked 14th
|
| 2004
| 8
| 9
| 2
| .474
| Ranked 9th nationally during season
|
| 2005
| 9
| 8
| 3
| .525
| Became program's winningest coach, 11 players named Academic
All-Pac-10
|
| 2006
| 8
| 8
| 3
| .500
|
|
Harvard
| 20
| 9
| 6
| .657
|
|
| 2007
| 10
| 6
| 1
| .618
|
|
2008
| 10
| 3
| 5
| .694
|
|
| Totals
| 212
| 112
| 33
| .640
|
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