University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Soccer Coach Rudy Inks Two-Year Contract Extension
July 18, 2008 | Women's Soccer
July 18, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - University of Massachusetts Director of Athletics John McCutcheon has announced that women's soccer head coach Jim Rudy has signed a two-year contract extension through the 2010 season. Rudy, who captured his 300th career win last fall, becoming the ninth coach in NCAA history to do so, will begin his 21st year at the helm for the Minutewomen next month.
"This contract extension comes at a good time as it allows us all to focus on the season," said Rudy. "It is also good for our recruiting because potential recruits and their parents always ask `How long are you going to be there?' I sincerely appreciate our administration doing this now. I think it makes everyone happy."
Throughout his 27 years of coaching soccer, Rudy has established himself as one of the sport's most consistent winners. He has averaged over 11 wins a season in his career sporting a 307-151-25 (.661) lifetime women's coaching record. In his career, Rudy has directed his teams into NCAA postseason play 13 times, including nine of his 20 seasons as the frontman for the UMass program. 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's list of accomplishments is impressive. In over 27 years of coaching in both the men's and women's game, Rudy has trained some of soccer's top names. He has 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.
In 20 seasons at the UMass helm, Rudy has compiled a 233-128-19 (.638) record. UMass has 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 (1993, 1995, 1997) A-10 Coach of the Year has produced six conference Player of the Year selections (Scurry, 1993; Erin Lynch, 1994 and 1995; Sophie Lecot, 1998; Emma Kurowski; 1999, Julie Podhrasky, 2000), as well as four A-10 Tournament MVPs and over 50 All-Conference selections. He won his 200th game with the Minutewomen on Sept. 27, 2004, a 4-1 victory over Holy Cross.
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 1975-1987 with the men's team, while posting a 74-23-6 mark in seven seasons at the helm of the women's program from 1981-1987. He brought both teams to the NCAA Tournament with the women making three appearances (1982, 1984, 1987), and the men making back-to-back appearances (1982, 1983). Rudy's 1982 women's squad advanced to the national championship game, losing, 2-0, to North Carolina. Ironically, the last game he would coach at UCF would be a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to UMass in the 1987 national semifinals at McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst. For all of his accomplishments as a coach at UCF, Rudy was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame on Nov. 2, 2001.
TRANSACTIONS - Massachusetts: Women's Soccer Head Coach Jim Rudy agreed to a two-year contract extension through 2010 season.
