Head Coach Patrick Long
Entering 8th season at Lock Haven: 63-61-1 overall
For Patrick Long ’08, the 2025 season will mark his eighth as the head coach at Lock Haven.
The 2008 Haven graduate is a former standout player with the Bald Eagles who was officially named the Bald Eagles’ head coach in January 2016.
-- The 2024 season by the numbers:
Long entered his seventh season at the helm of Lock Haven men's soccer in 2024.
Prior to the season, the Bald Eagles returned to the PSAC West for the first time since 2009.
The Bald Eagles finished the 2024 season with an 8-8-1 overall record and 5-5 mark in the PSAC West. The Haven was edged out for the third and final postseason spot on the last day on the regular season.
The program landed six athletes on the All-PSAC West team, led by Connor Swope and Danny Ogan's First Team selections.
Swope was also named to the United Soccer Coaches and D2CCA All-Atlantic Region Teams and was named a CSC Academic All-District Athlete.
On Sunday, Oct. 27, the Commonwealth University-Lock Haven community honored the legacy of former men's soccer player Michael Bobby '83 during a celebration in Thomas Fieldhouse. The event marked the official naming of the head men's soccer coach's office in Bobby's name - the first such office naming in Lock Haven Athletics history.
-- The 2023 season by the numbers:
Long entered his sixth season at the helm of Lock Haven men's soccer in 2023.
On September 13, 2024, the Bald Eagles downed Millersville in a thrilling 1-0 final to earn Long his 50th career victory as Lock Haven men's soccer head coach.
The Bald Eagles remained in the heat of the PSAC East postseason chase all the way until the final week of the regular season and finished 2023 with a 7-8-3 overall record and 4-6-2 mark in the PSAC East.
Following the season, the Bald Eagles landed four athletes on the All-PSAC Eastern Division team.
Tom Pombor and
Connor Swope earned 2023 PSAC East First-Team honors. Swope earned his second straight First-Team honor, while
Tom Pombor secures his first All-PSAC nod as a senior. Representing the Bald Eagles on the Second-Team was sophomore
Jimmy Pombor, who brought home the honor for a consecutive year, and redshirt junior
Ryan Foskey.
Tom Pombor was also named to the D2CCA Atlantic All-Region team.
A look back at 2022:
Numerous academic awards highlight the off-field success for Lock Haven.
Long’s leadership led four players to All-PSAC honors including Samuel Hershey who was named the PSAC Eastern Division Player of Year. Both Hershey and Connor Swope earned All-Region status as well for standout play in 2022.
Four of six wins in 2022 came at home.
Over the previous two seasons (2022 & 2021), The Haven is 10-4-3 at home.
The 2021 Season:
After losing the entire 2020 season to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Coach Long and the Bald Eagles responded in a big way with a flagship season in 2021. The Bald Eagles romped their way to the program's most win since 2007 and the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006 behind a 13-4-2 overall record and a 10-1-1 in the PSAC East. The 10-1-1 conference record helped LHU land the PSAC-East Regular Season title and the No. 1 seed heading into the conference playoffs.
After the season, Long was named the 2021 PSAC-East Coach of the Year as the Bald Eagles swept the coach, player and rookie of the year honors in the East Division. Beckham Sibiski and Samuel Hershey earned Player and Rookie of the Year, respectively.
Under Long's guidance, Beckham Sibiski also earned first-team All-American honors from the United Soccer Coaches (USC), becoming the first Bald Eagle to be named to the first-team since 1995. Sibiski was also named to the USC Division II Scholar Player of the Year, and earned a spot in the PSAC Fall Top-10
Long saw an incredible seven total players named All-Conference by the PSAC and another three named to the All-Atlantic Region as Sibiski, Hershey and Chase Tackett brought home the awards.
Academically, Long's side was just as impressive as they led all LHU men's teams with a 3.281 team GPA. Colton Swanson earned the PSAC Champion Scholar Athlete Award and Sibiski was named CoSIDA Academic All-American along with his Scholar Player of the Year award.
A closer look at Long’s profile:
In 2019, Long and the Bald Eagle logged another successful campaign as the team capped the year with a four-game winning streak and finalized a 10-8 overall record. The season marked the second straight regular season finish over .500. The team narrowly missed PSAC playoff contention.
Freshman phenom Andrea DiSomma played to the tune of an All-American season as he recorded a remarkable 17 goals. He also earned All-Region, All-PSAC and PSAC Rookie of the Year honors.
The 2018 season was a special one for Lock Haven as the Bald Eagles captured the 2018 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division II title, thanks to a dominating 3-0 win over Salem University. The championship win pushed Lock Haven over .500 as LHU finished the 2018 season at 8-7-3 overall.
The Bald Eagles closed the 2018 regular season on October 27 at California (Pa.) with a 2-0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) victory. It marked LHU's second straight win as Lock Haven closed the regular season with a two-match win streak and a three-match unbeaten streak (2-0-1). Lock Haven finished the 2018 regular season with a 7-7-3 record, marking the Bald Eagles first .500 finish in regular season play since going 11-7-1 in 2011. The ECAC Tournament match marked Lock Haven's first postseason match of any sort since a 2015 PSAC First Round match at rival Bloomsburg.
Standout Beckham Sibiski earned 2018 All-Conference and All-Region honors under Long’s guidance.
In 2017, the Bald Eagles got off to a sizzling start which helped them crack the regional rankings. LHU started 4-1-1 before finishing 6-8-4 overall. Lock Haven won four games at home and finished at 3-6-2 in PSAC action.
During the season, the Bald Eagles recorded back-to-back wins over top-25 teams. After knocking off No. 9 Millersville 1-0 on September 27, it marked the first win over perennial PSAC and NCAA Division II regional power Millersville since 2011. Ironically enough it's also the last time LHU downed a top-15 team. Lock Haven's last win over a top-10 team came in 2005. In the very next game on September 30, LHU upset No. 22 West Virginia Wesleyan 1-0 on the road.
Strong at home in 2017, LHU went unbeaten in seven of nine home matches.
In his first year (2016), Long lead the Bald Eagles to a 5-11-1 overall record and a 3-8 PSAC record.
Highlighting the season was Troy Amspacher who racked up numerous awards for his tremendous play. Amspacher led the team in goals and points with 14 and 30, respectively. Those numbers also ranked him 4th in the PSAC in both categories. Amspacher earned All-PSAC First team, D2CCA All-Atlantic Region Second Team and NSCAA NCAA Division II Men's All-Atlantic Region Third Team honors.
Long returned to LHU after spending the previous six seasons as an assistant coach at Division I Bucknell University.
At Bucknell, Long guided the Bison to a pair of Patriot League titles and to two NCAA Tournament appearances. During his tenure at Bucknell, Long assisted the program in all aspects, including day-to-day operations, training sessions, recruiting, scheduling, fundraising and alumni relations.
Under Long’s leadership, Bucknell won Patriot League titles in 2010 and 2014, advancing to the NCAA Division I Tournament each of those seasons. The Bison advanced to the Patriot League semifinals in 2012 and 2013, and he helped guide one player to NCAA Division I All-American status.
Prior to his time at Bucknell, Long spent two years at PSAC rival East Stroudsburg University (2008-09 and 2009-10), as the graduate assistant and assistant coach.
Following his Bald Eagle playing days, the former LHU team captain served as Lock Haven’s student-assistant coach during the 2007 season after exhausting his playing eligibility, and while working toward his undergraduate degree.
During his playing days at LHU, Long was two-time All-PSAC First Team selection (2005 & 2006) and a 2006 Third Team Academic All-American. Her served as team captain during his junior and senior seasons, and was a three-time All-PSAC Scholar-Athlete.
Long also played one season with the LHU men’s basketball team.
He graduated from LHU in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education/Social Studies. Long earned his Master of Science in Sports Management from ESU in 2009.
Long is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA).
Patrick and his wife Carol (LHU, ’06) are the proud parents of a daughters, Hanna and Rosie and their son, Rory.
Patrick is also a legacy of sorts, as he follows in the footsteps of his Hall of Fame father Lenny Long, who coached the LHU men’s soccer team from 1984-1996. Lenny was also an All-Conference player for "The Haven."
*Updated: January 16, 2025
