SPORTS BRIEF: Harvard Assistant Coach Leaves to Become Head Coach At Northeastern

Harvard assistant coach Tracey Leone informed the women’s soccer team yesterday morning that she would be leaving the Crimson this spring for the head coaching position at Northeastern University.

Having spent the past three seasons alongside her husband, Harvard head coach Ray Leone, Tracey Leone helped revive a struggling Crimson soccer program into a back-to-back Ivy League champion.

“It’s an awesome opportunity and we are very excited for her and proud of her,” Ray Leone said. “You can’t blame Northeastern for wanting Tracey, she’s one of the best coaches in the country.”

The first American to win a World Championship as both a player and a head coach, Leone recently completed her 18th year of coaching experience at both the international and collegiate levels. A three-time national champion athlete at North Carolina, Leone has coached Clemson and Arizona State as well as the U.S. National Team.

“We respect [her decision] and we are just so fortunate to have played under her for the last three years,” said junior co-captain Gina Wideroff. “Tracey is one of the best coaches in the country, and she deserves this position. She deserves the world, or the soccer world at least.”

—ALEX SOPKO