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Luke Duffy
Luke Duffy begins his eighth season in charge of the women's soccer program at Concord in 2023.
Duffy has built an ultra successful program at CU, but the 2021 fall season was by far the Mountain Lions' best season in program history. After claiming the Mountain East Conference Championship, the second in the last three seasons, Concord won the Atlantic Region Championship for the first time in program history. The Mountain Lions advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight before being knocked out by eventual national runner-up Saint Rose.
The 2021 season produced three All-Americans for CU: Morgan Carmichael, Yasmin Mosby and Courtney Smith. Concord finished with a record of 20-1-3. In addition to the All-American honors, the program collected eight all-region honors and three of the four year-end MEC awards.
While Concord didn't make the NCAA Division II Tournament, the 2022 fall was successful for the Maroon and Gray on the pitch. CU won at least 12 games for the fourth consecutive season as it went 12-5-2. Michelle Brogden and Leah Foster were voted all-region.
After winning five games in the season before his arrival, and three games in his first season, Duffy and the Mountain Lions capped their rapid ascent to the top of the MEC by winning the MEC South Division Title, the MEC Championship and earning the program's first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Concord finished the season with a 19-2 record in 2019.
Overall, the Mountain Lions appeared in four consecutive MEC Championship game (2018, 2019, Spring 2021, 2021).
Over the last five seasons, Duffy has guided CU to 71, including going 8-2 during the shortened 2021 season. The success for the Duffy-led Mountain Lions began back in 2018 when Concord started its string of four straight MEC Championship Games with a 12-4-4 finish to the season. It was the also the first time CU appeared in a conference title game in nearly a decade.
In seven seasons, Duffy has coached 17 all-conference players as Concord set the record for most All-MEC players on one team in one season with nine selections in 2019. Overall, seven players have been all-region with Duffy's leadership. And at season's end in 2019, Foster and Mira Kontio became the second and third All-Americans in program history.
From Duffy's first year to second year in Athens, he led one of the most impressive turnarounds in the Atlantic Region. After winning just 13 games the previous three seasons combined, Duffy and the Mountain Lions secured the program's first winning record since 2012 of 10-8-1, the first Mountain East Conference Tournament bid in program history and the first conference postseason berth since 2012 with the 2017 success.
With the improvement in the win-loss column, Concord has three First Team All-MEC performer in Carmichael, Pilar Elias and Sarah Hill. Additionally, Elias and Hill were named all-region selection with Hill being voted conference freshman of the year.
In his first season at Concord during the 2016 season, Duffy coached three All-MEC players including Kiana Brown, Micharae Thompson and Megan Walsh. Brown and Thompson earned all-conference for the first time in their careers while Walsh was an All-MEC Freshman Team selection.
Duffy came to Concord after serving as an assistant coach at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. At Queens, Duffy helped guide the Royals to a 19-15-4 record. During the 2015 season, Queens finished third in the South Atlantic Conference and was ranked in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region throughout the campaign.
Prior to his stint at Queens, Duffy was the assistant men’s soccer coach at Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, North Carolina from 2012-2013. During his time at L-R, the Bears went 15-15-5.
Throughout his four-year career as an assistant coach, Duffy was responsible for helping six student-athletes achieve all-conference honors.
A native of Wakefield, England, Duffy, also brings a wealth of coaching experience outside of NCAA-sponsored athletics after serving as the academy director of the Premier UK Soccer Club in Statesville, North Carolina that is directly tied in with West Ham United of the English Premier League.
What may be the most impressive item on Duffy’s resume is his success as a college soccer player at Lees-McRae in Banner Elk, North Carolina from 2008-2011. As a sophomore, Duffy led Lees-McRae to the Division II National Championship game. In the 2009 season, Duffy was a First Team All-American and was also a consensus first team all-region pick. He was named the Conference Carolinas Tournament MVP as a freshman in 2008 and was on the all-tournament team all four years. Additionally, he was an all-conference and all-region player all four years of college becoming just the second men’s soccer player at LMC to be named all-conference every season throughout a career.
Lees-McRae compiled a record of 63-17-9 in four years with Duffy suited up, and it also won three conference regular season and tournament championships as well as appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament all four seasons.
Duffy is married to Nikki Duffy, together they have two children, a nine-year old son Oliver, and a two-year old daughter Esme.
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