Ray Leone is in his sixth season at Maryland in 2021-22. He completed his fifth season as Maryland’s head coach in the spring of 2021. He was named the ninth head coach in the history of Maryland women's soccer on Jan. 13, 2016.
Leone guided Maryland to its best season since joining the Big Ten in 2019, leading the Terrapins to a sixth place finish in the league standings while the team qualified for its first-ever Big Ten Tournament. The Terps finished 9-8-3 overall, the program’s first winning season since 2012, and finished with the team’s best home record (7-1-2) in nine seasons.
Leone captured his historic 300th career win as a collegiate soccer coach in a 3-0 victory over Princeton on September 15, 2019 becoming just the 27th active Division I coach too reach the milestone at the time. Overall, his 2019 squad’s 25 goals and six shutouts both were season-highs in his four-year tenure at UMD. Forward Alyssa Poarch shined for Leone, earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors and Third Team USILA All-Region honors.
Leone continued his rebuild of the Maryland program in 2018, leading the Terrapins to a pair of victories in Big Ten play. The Terps started conference play with a historic win over Iowa, scoring the program’s most-ever goals in a Big Ten game in the team’s 4-0 victory. Leone would later capture the program’s first win over a ranked team since 2014, knocking off No. 14 Northwestern at home on October 7.
Leone's team made significant strides in conference play in 2018. The Terps more than doubled their B1G scoring output with 10 goals in conference action and cut their goals against by a third in one year, a seven-goal decrease from a season ago.
Leone’s squad saw progress in his second season at the helm in 2017, authoring a four-win improvement over his inaugural 2016 campaign. The Terps went unbeaten in nonconference play after welcoming a top-25 recruiting class. Goalkeeper Rachel Egyed earned All-Big Ten honors, becoming the first Maryland player to earn a Big Ten honor. Egyed would finish her career as a two-time All-Big Ten honoree.
Leone helped Maryland improve offensively in his first season. The Terps surpassed their total from 2015 (17 in 19 games) in just 12 games. In addition, Leone seamlessly integrated transfers Chelsea Jackson (9 goals) and Jarena Harmon (8 goals), who both finished in the top-10 in the Big Ten in goals. Harmon earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring Maryland's first hat trick since 2012.
A native of Severna Park, Md., Leone carries a wealth of experience with over 20 years as a collegiate head coach. He has accumulated 285 wins, which ranks 21st among active Division I head coaches. He has been named a conference coach of the year twice; in the ACC at Clemson in 2000 and in 2014 at Harvard.
Leone's nine-year tenure at Harvard was highlighted by five appearances in the NCAA Tournament and five Ivy League Championships. Three Crimson players were honored as Ivy League Player of the Year under Leone with four earning Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors.
He coached 22 first-team All-Ivy League selections along with 16 second team all-league players. Leone also developed 12 NSCAA All-Region selections,
Academically, Leone's teams have performed well, with two Academic All-Americans and 11 Ivy All-Academic selections during his tenure.
Leone came to Harvard after six successful seasons at Arizona State, where he posted 60 wins The Sun Devils made a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament and achieved a school record No. 9 national ranking in 2004. Leone coached nine All-Pac 12 honorees with his squad annually achieving the school's highest grade point average among its 22 varsity programs. The Sun Devils placed a school record 11 student-athletes on the Academic All-Pac 12 team in 2005.
Prior to his time in Tempe, Leone was a coach at Clemson from 1994-to-2000, serving as an assistant for five years before becoming the head coach in 2000 after serving as the co-head coach in 1999. That season saw the Tigers win a school record 19 games en route to an ACC regular season championship. Leone's squad broke North Carolina's 37-game ACC winning streak and started the season with 12 straight wins.
In his seven years at Clemson, the Tigers finished among the nation's top-15 teams each year and produced 20 All-ACC selections. 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 came to Clemson from Creighton, where he started the varsity program in 1989 and within five years guided the Bluejays to a top-five regional ranking. He led Creighton to a 14-3-2 record in his final season.
His coaching career began at Berry College (Ga.) in 1986 and he became the only coach to take a first-year program to a national championship game in college soccer history. The following season, Leone's squad won the NAIA national championship and he earned national coach of the year honors. Berry is considered the most successful program in NAIA history.
As a player, Leone starred from Charlotte and 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 BA in sociology at Charlotte before receiving a masters in sports sciences from the United State Sports Academy in 1990.
