UMBC

Bio

	Pete Caringi
	Position: Head Coach 13th Year at UMBC Alma Mater: University of Baltimore, 1978

Pete Caringi has taken UMBC Soccer to heights never reached before, and perhaps, never expected. The Retriever mentor has won at every level, both as a player and as a coach. He led the Retrievers to a pair of regular season league titles (1991, 1993), but building a true championship team had eluded him. However, after carefully reconstructing his program over time, Coach Caringi achieved that measure of success in 1999. Like a master chef, Caringi blended experienced local talent, a couple of international standouts, and finished by adding a few impact newcomers. The result was one of the finest products in UMBC history. The 1999 Retrievers won the Northeast Conference title, gave #1 Duke all it could handle in the NCAA Tournament, finished the year with the nation’s best winning percentage, and earned national rankings in all the major soccer polls. Coach Caringi reaped the benefits of the team’s success. He was named Northeast Conference Coach of the Year, NSCAA South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, and was a finalist for National Coach of the Year. Moreover, UMBC’s winningest men’s soccer coach became the first soccer coach in school history to surpass the 100-win plateau. He is currently ranked 41st amongst all active Division I coaches with a winning percentage of .627. He was rewarded with a four-year contract extension (2003). “I am excited that the administration has made a commitment to UMBC soccer so that we can continue to be recognized as a national-caliber program,” said Caringi. The 2000 season proved UMBC was not a “one-year wonder.” Despite a new-found bullseye on their uniforms as hungry opponents attempted to knock the Retrievers from their lofty standing, UMBC (15-5, 7-3) spent five weeks nationally ranked and bested notables Maryland (2-0) and George Mason (5-2) both on the field and in the South Atlantic Region. In 2001, the Retrievers made the four-team NEC Tournament for the fourth consecutive season, falling to eventual “Elite Eight” team FDU, 1-0, in a hard-fought semi-final match. UMBC suffered heavy graduation losses after ‘00 and ‘01, losing seven All NEC players and six professoinal draftees, but Coach Caringi and his staff adapted their style to a more defensive-oriented team in 2002 and the Retrievers responded by winning (tied with LIU) another regular season. The Baltimore native was named UMBC’s fourth head coach after ten sensational years at Essex Community College, where he compiled an overall record of 170-27-8. He coached the Knights to the National Junior College championship game in 1984 and 1989 and was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year and Region XX Coach of the Year in both of those seasons. In 1994, he was inducted into the National Junior College Athletic Hall of Fame and in May of 1998, he was also inducted into the Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame. Not only did Caringi have success at the junior college level, but he reached the top in the professional ranks as well. In 1990, he coached the Maryland Bays of the American Professional Soccer League to a 20-5 record and the league title. He served as assistant coach for the Bays in the 1988 and 1989 seasons. The offensive-minder mentor made an immediate impact at UMBC, winning a school-record tying fifteen games in two of his first three seasons. Caringi was a two-time All American at the University of Baltimore (1976, 1977) and is the school’s all-time leading goal scorer with 70. Moreover, the Retriever mentor is 21st on the NCAA Division I all-time goals list and is 39th in scoring with 159 points. He captained the 1975 NCAA Division II national championship team and played for the Washington Diplomats of the North American Soccer League in 1978. Caringi earned a B.A. degree from UB in 1978. He served a term on the Board of Directors of the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA), the lone junior college representative on the board. He is currently on the NCAA South Atlantic Rating Board and the NCAA Men’s Soccer Selection Committee. He and his wife Susan have two children, Christina, 14, and Pete III, who will be 11 in September. Coach Caringi holds a U.S.S.F. “A” license and is a staff coach with the O.D.P. under-23 squad. CARINGI YEAR-BY-YEAR AT UMBC 1991 15-5-1 1992 12-9-0 1993 15-3-1 1994 9-8-1 1995 10-9-1 1996 9-9-1 1997 5-12-2 1998 11-7-2 1999 19-1-2 2000 15-5-0 2001 9-6-2 2002 11-6-3 TOTALS 140-80-16 HONORS 1975 Captain, NCAA Div. II National Champions, Univ. of Baltimore 1976 All America, Univ. of Baltimore 1977 All America, Univ. of Baltimore 1978 Forward, NASL Washington Diplomats 1984 NJCAA National Coach of the Year, Essex CC 1989 NJCAA National Coach of the Year, Essex CC 1990 Head Coach, APSL Champion Maryland Bays 1994 Inducted to National Junior College Hall of Fame 1998 Inducted to Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame 1999 NSCAA South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year Northeast Conference Coach of the Year, UMBC 2002 Northeast Conference Coach of the Year