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A new era in Charlotte 49ers women's soccer began, June 1, 2005, when Jon Lipsitz was named just the third coach in the program's history. Every season that Lipsitz has been at Charlotte, the 49ers have increased their number of wins: 11 in 2005 to 13 in 2006 to 16 in 2007, tying the school-record for wins.
"Charlotte is well on its way to being a national soccer power," Lipsitz said. "The facilities are amazing from the academic center to our training facility and locker room. Everything is in place and with a championship already in hand we are ready for the next step into the national spotlight."
In his first season at Charlotte, Lipsitz made an immediate impact on the program after guiding the 49ers to an 11-wins season capped off by a Carolinas' Cup title and a berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals. Under his guidance the 49ers had five players earn All-Atlantic 10 honors. Nikki Dumencich became the fourth player in the program's history to claim league's Freshman of the Year honors when she was awarded the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year award. Also under his guidance, Lindsey Ozimek became the first female student-athlete in 49ers history to play for a United States national team when she helped the U.S. U-20 national team win the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Final Qualifying Tournament, January 2006.
In 2006, Lipsitz guided the 49ers to 13 wins including a then school-record tying eight Atlantic 10 wins en route to the Atlantic 10 regular season championship. Five players on the A-10 championship team earned All-Atlantic 10 honors. Also, a school-record three players (Nikki Labuda, Kelsie Ormsby and Lindsey Ozimek) were named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans.
Last season, Lipsitz was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after leading the 49ers to a school-record tying 16 wins and a school-record nine Atlantic 10 wins en route to the program's third-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 49ers captured their second straight A-10 regular season title which was the fourth regular season championship in the program's history. Charlotte also won their first A-10 Tournament Championship when they captured the title with a victory over Fordham in the Championship game at Transamerica Field last November. Four players off the two-time A-10 championship team earned All-Atlantic 10 honors led by A-10 Midfielder of the Year Lindsey Ozimek.
In his three seasons at Charlotte, he has guided the 49ers to 40 overall wins and 23 Atlantic 10 wins with a Carolinas' Cup title, two A-10 regular season titles, an A-10 Tournament title and one NCAA Tournament appearance during that span. The 49ers success on the field during Lipsitz's tenure at Charlotte has translated into recruiting success as well. The past two springs, he has signed two of the highest-ranked recruiting classes in the program's history including the 19th-ranked class in the nation according to Soccer Buzz in 2007.
Before taking over the 49ers women's soccer program, Lipsitz spent four seasons (2001-04) as assistant coach for national-power Ohio State. During his four seasons with the Buckeyes, he was the chief recruiter for a program that won 52 games, two Big Ten Tournament titles and made three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 2004, Ohio State won a school-record 19 games en route to an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance. His efforts produced nationally-ranked recruiting classes including players that earned freshman All-American honors in each of his last two seasons including 2004 Soccer America and Soccer Buzz National Freshman of the Year Lara Dickenmann.
While at Ohio State, he also was involved in training, budgeting and scheduling for the women's soccer program.
He has also served as the Director of Coaching and Player Development for the Ohio Premier Girls' Soccer Club from 1993 to 2005. His duties with the soccer club included managing coaches and over 450 players each year, as well as organizing and conducting team workouts and competitions. The Ohio Premier club has reached the Region II finals seven times, captured the 2002 regional championship, and captured eight indoor national championships. During his tenure, the club produced 12 national pool players and over 40 ODP regional pool players.
Prior to joining the coaching staff at Ohio State, he spent three years as Head Coach of the W-League's Columbus Ziggx and three seasons as Head Coach at Denison University.
In 1995, he became the coach of the Columbus Ziggx, a semiprofessional team in the United State Interregional Soccer League (W-League) which at the time was the highest level of women's soccer competition in the United States. He guided the Ziggx to a 31-14-5 record in his three seasons highlighted by an appearance in the national finals in 1997.
At Denison, he compiled a 43-10-4 overall record from 1990-92. He was named 1992 Ohio Coach of the Year, after guiding Denison to the program's first-ever Top 25 ranking and a trip to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight. He coached three players who earned All-American honors and seven All-Region selections.
Lipsitz is currently a Regional Staff Coach for the Region 3 Olympic Development Program as well as the 1991 North Carolina ODP Head Coach. He holds the United States Soccer Federation "A" license.
The Chapel Hill, North Carolina native graduated with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina in 1988. He earned a Master's of Education from Ohio State in 1998.
He lives in Charlotte with his wife, Kathryn, and sons Zachary (12) and Max (4).
