Courtesy of Greg Gornick, Chestnut Hill SID

Philadelphia, PA – (7/6/2011) – Director of Athletics and Recreation Lynn Tubman announced today, Wednesday, July 6, the resignation of Head Women’s Soccer Coach Seamus O’Connor.

“Seamus’ success at Chestnut Hill College has provided him with the opportunity to move on to be an assistant coach at the Division I level and we wish him all the best,” said Tubman.

After five short years, O’Connor reestablished the strength of the Griffin soccer programs; directing the women’s side to two consecutive trips to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship Tournament (2009 & 2010) and garnering the CACC Coach of the Year award at the end the 2009 season. Tubman expressed with great gratitude her appreciation for O’Connor’s accomplishments at Chestnut Hill College, “I would like to thank Seamus for all his work in recruiting outstanding student-athletes to Chestnut Hill College and coaching a program that is now recognized a premier program in the CACC. Seamus created such a positive environment among the players, families, and fans. His presence will be missed.” O’Connor will be leaving Chestnut Hill College to assume assistant coaching duties at Temple University. Under Head Coach Matt Gwilliam, the Owls were 6-12-1 overall and 1-6-1 in the Atlantic 10 last season.

At Chestnut Hill College, O’Connor played a large role in the recent revival of the Griffin soccer programs. He joined the College’s coaching staff in 2007 as the head coach for the men's team, before acting as director of soccer for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. O'Connor handed the men's team over to Head Coach Keith Campo in 2010 when he chose to exclusively coach the women's program. On the women’s side, O’Connor produced a two-time all-region competitor (Lauren Riff, CoSIDA/Daktronics Inc. 2009 and NSCAA 2010), ten all-conference student-athletes (Riiff 2008-2010,Tara Morey 2008-2009, Lauren Brown 2009-2010, Carly DiGiovanni 2010, Jessica Veazey 2010, and Amanda Botbyl 2010), three CACC All-Tournament selections (Riiff 2009, DiGiovanni and Lauren Nolte 2010), and a CACC Rookie of the Year (DiGiovanni 2010). The women’s soccer team also earned the CACC Team Sportsmanship Award in 2007. On the men’s side, O’Connor coached two Chestnut Hill College Athletic Director’s Award winners (Jeff Lewin 2007-2008, and Robert Larkin 2009-2010).

Under O’Connor, the Chestnut Hill College soccer programs have also flourished academically. The women’s soccer team was recently recognized with the Chestnut Hill College Team Academic Achievement Award for posting the best collective GPA (2010-2011) and during O’Connor’s era 16 Chestnut Hill College soccer players earned CACC All-Academic status.