GURNETT KICKS OFF 25TH SEASON

Terry Gurnett '77 has one rule for coaching women's soccer:

"The players have to be good folks," he says. "That means an awful lot."

Going into his 25th season as head coach of Rochester's team -and the only head coach the program has had-Gurnett has scored often with his "good folks" rule.

Since beginning his coaching career right after his own graduation from Rochester, Gurnett has led his teams to two NCAA Division III national championships. His teams have finished as national runner-up once, and have been ranked among the top 25 at season's end 20 times.

With a combined record of 294 wins, 87 losses, and 40 ties, Gurnett is Division III soccer's all-time win leader, and he was selected NCAA Coach of the Decade for the 1980s.

Individually, a total of 21 Yellowjackets coached by Gurnett have received All-America honors, four have earned Academic All-American distinction, and his 1999 and 2000 teams earned the National Soccer Coach's Association Team Academic Award.

Last season, the team compiled an 11-7 record with wins over four teams that went on to the national tournament, ending the 2000 campaign ranked 22nd in the nation.

"We've been pretty fortunate," Gurnett says of his team's and his players' success. "We have a great University we can recruit for, and we have renewed support from the College with new athletic facilities and a reinvigorated spirit in the athletic department."

But former player Jill McCabe '88, who was a key part of Rochester's back-to-back NCAA championships in 1986 and 1987, says Gurnett deserves more credit than he is willing to take. Her former coach recruits not just for talent and strength but also for team chemistry, a quality many coaches overlook, she notes.

"He's a great guy. People figure that out pretty quickly," McCabe says. "He's also passionate about the game. That helps the players be more passionate about it as well."

McCabe, who was an assistant coach on Gurnett's staff for 12 years, owns the Rochester Ravens, part of the U.S. Women's Inter-Regional Soccer League. She also coaches the women's team at St. John Fisher College in Rochester.

Last year, her Fisher team played Gurnett's for the first time, and McCabe admits she tried to use some of the techniques she learned from Gurnett against her alma mater. (Rochester won, 3-0.)

"We gave him a good game," she says. "I try to apply some of the plays he used but also the standards he set."

As he looks downfield, Gurnett says the biggest challenge for soccer coaches is recruiting, especially in Division III, where schools are not allowed to give athletics scholarships. In the 1980s, when women's soccer was less popular, Rochester recruited against top Division I programs.

These days, the proliferation of college teams means Division III level players often are recruited by Division I schools.

To continue to attract top players, Rochester puts more emphasis on its academic standards, Gurnett says.

"The University underwent a renaissance that put us on a nationally recognized level, which has helped a lot," he says. "We still recruit from a position of strength."

Women's soccer is quickly becoming one of the nation's most popular sports, due in part to the excitement surrounding the United States victory in the 1999 World Cup. Several Rochester graduates have gone on to play at various levels, including a few with professional teams in Europe and others trying out for the fledgling United States professional league.

"Postcollege opportunities are really growing, which is good news," Gurnett says. "It's outstanding, because at this stage of its infancy, soccer hasn't really been spoiled by a lot of money. It's still in its purest forms. A women's soccer player is still very much in need of getting a good education."

Gurnett's success hasn't gone unnoticed off the field. The target of frequent recruiting efforts himself, Gurnett says only two offers to coach elsewhere have really tempted him. In 1988, he turned down Notre Dame, and in 1994 he turned down the University of Pennsylvania. He decided to stay rather than uproot his family.

He also appreciates the chance to do more than coach at Rochester. A longtime member of the staff of Alumni Relations and Development, Gurnett was named last year as associate athletic director, where he oversees the Friends of Rochester Athletics campaign.

Such opportunities are usually not available to coaches at larger schools, he points out.

As for the future, Gurnett predicts more success, with several good recruiting years under Rochester's belt and a strong group of athletes ready to follow his "golden rule."

"I think the alumni can be proud that we've recruited a group of very good soccer players who are very good students and better people," Gurnett says. "We can take heart that there are only good folks in this program."

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