Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame
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JOANNE RUSSELL
JoAnne Russell was the founding coach of the women’s soccer program in 1992 and served as head coach until her retirement at the conclusion of the 2005 season. During her 13 years as varsity coach, JoAnne posted a 138-88-18 record, was a two-time CAA Coach of the Year selection as well as the 1999 America East Coach of the Year and the 1994 Nassau County Sports Commission Coach of the Year.
JoAnne built the Hofstra program from a club team in its first season (1992) to a competitive Division I program that went 16-2-1 and earned an ECAC Tournament berth in the team's second year at the varsity level. She led the team to nine double-digit win seasons from 1994 to 2005 and in her final season, she coached the team to the Colonial Athletic Association championship and an NCAA Tournament bid.
JoAnne also led the Pride to back-to-back regular season Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships with an outright title in 2003 and a shared title in 2004. She earned back-to-back CAA Coach of the Year honors in 2002 and 2003.
During her tenure JoAnne coached one All-American (Sue Weber), 23 all-conference players, three all-rookie team selections, two CAA Defenders of the Year (Dolores Deasley and Sue Weber) and three CAA Rookies of the Year (Jacki Pollaro, Marie Curtin and Edel Malone). In addition, six players (Dolores Deasley, Elaine O’Connor, Rebecca Wachsberger, Marie Curtin, Kacey O’Driscoll and Edel Malone) play on or have played on the Irish National Team.
The 2005 team finished with an overall record of 14-4-3 and an 8-1-2 mark in the CAA, good for second place in the regular season standings. After announcing her retirement during the final week of the regular season, the Pride went on to defeat top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth, 1-0, in the CAA championship game. It was the seventh year in a row that Hofstra had reached the semifinals of its conference tournament, including all four in the Colonial Athletic Association and its final three in the America East. For her efforts, JoAnne was named the Big Apple Soccer Person of the Year.
Prior to coaching at Hofstra, JoAnne served as head coach at Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, New York. Posting a 50-12-3 record in four years at Herricks, JoAnne built an Eastern New York powerhouse that captured the Nassau County Conference III crown in 1990 before compiling a 21-0-1 record, the New York State Class A title and a second place national finish in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)-Gatorade Poll in 1991.
Before coaching at Herricks, Russell coached at Clarke High School in Westbury, New York, from 1984 through 1987, serving as junior varsity soccer coach and varsity bowling coach. She has also served as a coach in the East Meadow Soccer Club and player-coach of the Long Island Women’s Soccer Club champions in 1982 and 1983. Russell was an assistant coach with the Long Island Women's Open team at the New York Empire State Games for nine years, winning a gold medal in 1999, silver medals in 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2000, and the bronze medal in 1993.
Russell is a 1991 honors graduate of Molloy College with a degree in social studies. She also minored in education and sociology.
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