When it comes to building a soccer program into a national power, head coach Ken Lolla has the midas touch. When the University of Louisville moved into the BIG EAST Conference in 2005, they needed to find a coach that could take a program with no winning tradition and make it into a contender in the toughest league in the nation. Lolla came to Louisville with an impressive 16 year coaching resume. In his previous 16 seasons, Lolla had never had a losing season. In his first head coaching job, Lolla guided Belmont Abbey to a No. 6 national ranking in three years. He guided Akron to national prominence in his 13 seasons with the Zips. It took just two short seasons for Lolla to meet that lofty goal. In his second season at the helm, Lolla guided the Cardinals to their first national ranking and their first NCAA Tournament Appearance. Last season Lolla built on that foundation adding back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the Cardinals. Louisville pulled off upsets of No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 2 St. John's in back-to-back games, earning their highest ranking in school history at No. 7. Once again the Cardinals earned a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament and advance to the quarterfinals but fell to Notre Dame 1-0 in South Bend. Freshman Colin Rolfe earned BIG EAST Rookie of the Year honors while Aaron Clapham and Austin Berry also earned All-Big East honors. The Cardinals then earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, making the first back-to-back appearance in school history. The Cards' season ended in the first round with a 4-3 overtime loss to Jacksonville. Lolla's 2007 squad put together back-to-back wins over ranked opponents to begin the month of October. The Cardinals defeated No. 12 South Florida followed by an overtime win over No. 13 Indiana. It was the Cards' first win over Indiana and landed them in their first national ranking at No. 25 in the Soccer America Poll. Louisville finished the month of October with just one loss and finished second in the BIG EAST's Red Division and earned a first round bye for the tournament. The Cards then tied No. 14 West Virginia in the quarterfinals and advanced to their first semifinals on penalty kicks. The Cardinals fell to BIG EAST Champion Connecticut in the semifinals but earned their first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Lolla's squad was not happy just to be there, they were all business as they defeated No. 20 Duke 1-0 in Cardinal Park. Louisville faced No. 14 Ohio State in the second round in Columbus. The Cards fell 1-0 to the Buckeyes to end their most successful season in school history. In his first season with the Cardinals, Lolla doubled Louisville's BIG EAST win total from the previous season to finish with a 4-5-1 record. The Cardinals also qualified for the BIG EAST Tournament, making its first league tournament appearance in three seasons. The Cardinals made a dramatic improvement at the end of the season. Lolla's first squad finished their last three league games with a perfect record of 1-0-2. Lolla came to Louisville after guiding Akron to its most successful season in school history with an impressive 18-1-4 record in the 2005 season. Lolla guided the Zips to a final ranking of fifth in the nation by the NSCAA/adidas poll and at one point in the season the Zips were ranked at the top of the polls. Lolla guided the Zips to their eighth Mid-American Conference Regular Season title and their fourth MAC Tournament title. He was named MAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time. The Zips advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight and tied eventual national champion Maryland but in the final outcome fell 4-1 in penalty kicks. Akron also became the only school with two players named first team NSCAA All-Americans and a third player named to the second team. Lolla spent the last 13 seasons at the University of Akron. During his tenure at Akron he compiled a 160-68-25 record along with eight MAC Championships and a school record, five straight NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2004 Lolla directed the Zips to the MAC Tournament title and a then school record fourth-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. The Zips finished the season with a record of 13-5-3, making Lolla the all-time winningest coach in the program's storied 50-year history. In 2003 Lolla's Zips finished 15-5-2 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Akron also became the first-ever MAC school to earn a tournament seeding, claiming the No. 15 spot and a first-round bye. During the 2002 season the Zips made their second-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and won their second MAC Tournament championship. That came after a 2001 season which was marked by several milestones for Lolla and his team. He notched his 100th coaching victory at Akron on Oct. 14, 2001 with a 1-0 win over Wright State. After a 10-6-1 season and second-place finishes in the Mid-American Conference regular season standings and tournament, the Zips became the first MAC school to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Lolla's Akron squads were 62-9-5 all-time in regular-season MAC play and he has tutored 38 first-team All-MAC players. In 1998, the Zips captured the regular-season MAC title with a 7-0-1 mark, and won their first MAC tournament title with a 4-1 win over Bowling Green to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Lolla earned his third MAC Coach of the Year honors and was named the NSCAA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year. The 1999 season brought Akron an unbeaten mark of 6-0-1 and its third-consecutive MAC title. Although the Zips posted a 4-2-0 MAC mark in 2000, they finished in a four-way tie for first place during the regular season. In 1993, his first Akron squad captured the school's initial MAC title with a perfect 5-0-0 league mark. In 1995 the Zips once again went through MAC play 5-0-0 record. Lolla earned MAC Coach of the Year honors both seasons. Lolla was inducted into the Akron Hall of Fame last year. Lolla has also taken his skills to the national level. In the fall of 1999, he was appointed head coach of the U.S. Soccer Federation Under-15 National Team. His travels with the national team have taken him around the world, including stops in Italy and South America. Prior to his stint at Akron, Lolla posted a 49-16-3 record in three seasons at Belmont Abbey in Belmont, N.C., including a 19-3-2 mark in 1992. The Crusaders were the sixth-ranked team in the NAIA that season. His Belmont Abbey clubs won three consecutive Carolinas Conference Championships which earned Lolla numerous accolades. He was named the Carolinas Conference Coach of the Year in 1990. In 1992, Lolla received NSCAA-NAIA National Coach of the Year honors. As a player Lolla was considered one of the finest midfielders in the Atlantic Coast Conference, earning all-conference honors three times and earned All-South and All-America honors in 1981 and 1983 while at Duke University. In 2002 he was one of 55 players named to the ACC's 50th Anniversary Men's Soccer Team. Lolla played professionally for the Canton Invaders of the National Professional Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. In 1984, Lolla played professionally with the Charlotte Gold of the USL. He then moved to the Canton Invaders of the NPSL and finished his playing career with the New Jersey Eagles and the Penn-Jersey Spirit of the ASL in 1988 and 1989, respectively. He also served as the Youth Development Director for the Canton Invaders in 1985 and 1986. He handled community and public relations in 1987 and 1988 in conjunction with appearances as a player for the NPSL franchise. Following his professional career, Lolla returned to Duke as an assistant coach in 1985 and then again for the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Lolla holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Duke, which he received in 1983. He was a high school All-America pick in 1980 at St. Rose High School in Belmar, N.J. and also played on the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival teams in 1979 and 1983. While playing in Canton, Ohio, Lolla, 46, met his wife the former Tina Bowman. The couple resides in Louisville with their three children, 12 year-old Tyler ,8 year-old Kristiana, and 6 year-old Elijah. |
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