Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/11/09
From Press Releases
Navy head coach Cindy Timchal (Haverford High, West Chester University) added yet another milestone to her already illustrious coaching resume over the weekend.
With the Midshipmen’s 19-4 win over Lafayette on Saturday, Timchal recorded her 352nd career victory, making her the all-time winningest lacrosse coach in NCAA history – women’s or men’s, spanning all divisions.
The win pulled her ahead of William Smith College’s Pat Genovese, who owns a 351-129-1 career mark headed into the Division III Herons’ spring opener on March 17.
Now in her 27th season as a head coach, Timchal’s career record stands at 352-90, good for a sterling .796 winning percentage – the highest clip for any Division I coach with at least 10 years of experience.
Timchal is a 1972 Haverford alum who was elected to the school’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. She lettered in lacrosse, tennis and track & field at West Chester.
(Timchal gets commitment from Young twins of Villa Maria Academy)
Following her graduation, she became an assistant coach at Unionville High where she coached field hockey, lacrosse and basketball. (In February 2004, she was inducted into the Unionville Hall of Fame.) In 1979, she joined the collegiate ranks, becoming an assistant lacrosse and field hockey coach at Pennsylvania.
At Navy, Timchal has quickly laid down the foundation for perennial success in short order, posting a 16-5 mark in the program’s first 21 Division I contests.
During their inaugural varsity season in 2008, the Midshipmen women won 13 games (an NCAA record for a first-year program) and advanced to the Patriot League semifinals, all while scoring at the second-most prolific rate (16.65 g/gm) in the history of the sport.
This spring, Navy has come out of the gate strong with three wins in its first four games (outscoring its opponents by an average of 9.75 goals per contest) and again figures to contend for the conference crown and NCAA Tournament berth.
Timchal came to the Academy following a storied 16-year run of unprecedented success at Maryland, where she guided the Terps to eight national championships, including seven in a row from 1995-2001.
Her eight national titles stand as the fourth-most in women’s sports history and the 25th most all-time in any men’s or women’s sport sponsored by the NCAA
A two-time national coach-of-the-year, Timchal posted an incredible 233-34 (.873) record while at College Park. She led her teams to the NCAA Tournament in every year of her tenure, produced four undefeated seasons (1995, ’96, ’99 and ’01) and advanced to the national championship game 11 times.
Timchal’s coaching career got its start at Northwestern during the program’s inaugural season in 1982. In her nine years at the helm, she led the Wildcats to five NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching as far as the quarterfinals.
As impressive as her on-field accomplishments have been, Timchal’s impact on the sport of women’s lacrosse has transcended wins and losses.
Since her first days in coaching, her focus has always been on the student-athlete. Nowhere has this tenet been more evident than in the classroom, where her athletes have totaled nine Academic All-America accolades.
Her dedication has also helped to inspire a remarkable number of her former players to follow her into the coaching ranks. Alone this spring, more than 20 of her former players will patrol the sidelines on different coaching staffs across the country.
Timchal’s coaching tree reads like a who’s-who of women’s lacrosse over the past two decades, including: Kelly Amonte-Hiller (head coach of four-time reigning NCAA champion Northwestern), Jen Adams (Loyola head coach), fellow Haverford High grad Kerstin Kimel (Duke head coach) and Cathy Reese (Maryland head coach).
It also extends outside the sport, as former player Jennifer Averill has won three national field hockey titles at Wake Forest.
Timchal will look to add to her win total as the Mids kick off a three-game, eight-day road stretch on Friday, March 13 at Canisius.
NCAA WOMEN’S LACROSSE ALL-TIME WIN LEADERS
Rk. Coach (Current School) Yrs. Wins Pct.
1. Cindy Timchal (Navy) 26+ 352 .796
2. Pat Genovese (William Smith) 35 351 .729
3. Sharon Pfluger (TCNJ) 22 335 .924
4. Missy Foote (Middlebury) 27 331 .811
5. Chris Sailer (Princeton, Haverford High grad) 22+ 284 .747
The Timchal File
Career Coaching Record 352-90 (.796 – Currently in 27th year)
at Maryland: 260-46 (.850 – 16 yrs.)
at Northwestern: 76-40 (.655 – 9 yrs.)
at Navy: 16-5 (.761 – Currently in 2nd year)
• Eight NCAA Championships
The 25th most all-time in any sport by a coach, and fourth most in a women’s sport in NCAA history.
• Seven-Consecutive NCAA Titles (1995-2001)
Her seven consecutive NCAA Championships are tied for the seventh most in any sport in NCAA Division I history, and the third most in a women’s sport. It is the 18th most in any sport in all NCAA divisions.
• Two-time National Coach of the Year
• Four-time ACC Coach of the Year
• Guided 42 players to 77 All-America honors
• Her players have earned a total of 23 national-player-of-the-year awards and nine Academic All-America honors
TIMCHAL’S COACHING RECORD
Year School W-L
1982 Northwestern 8-3
1983 Northwestern 11-3
1984 Northwestern 10-4
1985 Northwestern 7-4
1986 Northwestern 10-4
1987 Northwestern 10-4
1988 Northwestern 10-5
1989 Northwestern 6-5
1990 Northwestern 4-8
1991 Maryland 14-3
1992 Maryland 14-1
1993 Maryland 12-2
1994 Maryland 12-1
1995 Maryland 17-0
1996 Maryland 19-0
1997 Maryland 21-1
1998 Maryland 18-3
1999 Maryland 21-0
2000 Maryland 21-1
2001 Maryland 23-0
2002 Maryland 11-10
2003 Maryland 18-4
2004 Maryland 15-5
2005 Maryland 12-7
2006 Maryland 12-8
2007 Navy 13-4
2008 Navy 3-1
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