EAST NORRITON, Pa. – Penn State women’s soccer head coach Erica Dambach is set to be inducted into the Montco Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Thursday evening. The Nittany Lion skipper joins an eight-member class recognizing individuals who were raised, worked, performed in and brought lasting fame to Montgomery County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through their contributions in and around athletics.
“It is such an honor to join the Montco Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame alongside some of our region’s most significant sports figures,” Dambach said. “I have been blessed with amazing coaches, outstanding colleagues and incredible student-athletes throughout my career in and around soccer, and this recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of so many individuals. I am incredibly grateful for the endless support of my family, my close friends and colleagues, including our coaching staff at Penn State for helping make this possible. I can’t wait to continue our work this season, and for many seasons to come.”
One of the most impactful coaches in the nation at both the collegiate and U.S. Women’s National Team levels, Dambach enters the Montco Chapter’s Hall of Fame as one of the most decorated individuals across women’s soccer worldwide. Dambach owns 285 victories at Penn State through her first 18 years at the helm in Happy Valley, leading the Blue & White to the NCAA Tournament in every year of her tenure. The Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, native led Penn State women’s soccer to its first national championship in the 2015 campaign, directing PSU to a 22-3-2 overall record, a Big Ten Tournament championship and the program’s fifth Women’s College Cup berth all-time in the process.
Dambach boasts a wide variety of individual accolades in addition to her unprecedented team success at PSU, with the veteran head coach twice earning National Coach of the Year honors from United Soccer Coaches in 2012 and 2015 in addition to a quintet of recognitions as the Big Ten Conference’s Coach of the Year. Dambach has coached 11 Big Ten Regular Season championship-winning teams, five Big Ten Tournament champions, one MAC Hermann Trophy winner in Rocky Rodriguez, two MAC Hermann finalists, 11 MAC Hermann semifinalists, 10 United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-Americans and 16 Big Ten Players of the Year.
As a key contributor to the United States Women’s National Team program, Dambach has been a part of multiple Summer Olympic and FIFA Women’s World Cup squads. She began her career at the national team level as an assistant coach with the U.S. U-19 WYNT in 2004 followed by a three-year stint as the head coach of the United States’ U-17 outfit from 2004 to 2007. In 2008, she earned her first assistant coaching role with the Senior Women’s National Team at the Beijing Olympics, helping direct the USA to a gold-medal finish at the games of the 29th Olympiad. Dambach helped coach the USWNT to a runner-up finish as an assistant at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as a bronze-medal result at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Dambach joins seven other individuals as inductees at the 2024 Montco Chapter Hall of Fame ceremony Thursday night, with the Penn State head coach standing alongside local wrestling star Bill Racich, track & field athlete Bill Neely, swimmers Maddy Crippen and Jack Bauerle, boxer Marvis Frazier, basketball star Albert Donofrio, and longtime voice of the Philadelphia Eagles Merrill Reese. The 2024 Hall of Fame class includes champions at the Olympic, World Cup, NCAA, National, Middle Atlantic, East Coast and various regional levels, including a Golden Glove boxer, multiple All-Americans, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play broadcaster and members of numerous Halls of Fame across the country. The Montco Chapter’s 2024 class will be honored with a banquet Thursday night in East Norriton.
Dambach was born and raised in Montgomery County in the Huntingdon Valley region, falling in love with soccer at an early age before ultimately becoming a high school All-American at the region’s Lower Moreland High School. Dambach went on to play collegiately at William & Mary, becoming a two-time First Team All-CAA pick while propelling her collegiate squad to four NCAA Tournament appearances as well as two CAA regular season and tournament titles. Dambach graduated from W&M in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, adding a master’s degree in business administration at Lehigh in 2004. In recognition of her remarkable accomplishments, she was inducted into her alma mater’s Athletics Hall of Fame in March of 2010. The former Erica Walsh married Jason Dambach in January 2016, and the couple has two daughters named Addie and Kylie.
The Nittany Lions are off to a solid 11-4-3 overall record through the first 18 matches of the 2024 regular season with Dambach at the helm, including a 5-3-2 mark against Big Ten Conference opposition thus far this year. PSU has seen remarkable individual performances, including a pair of highlight-reel attacking players in redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean and senior midfielder Jordan Fusco, who have combined for 41 total points this season. Penn State has consistently played against some of the strongest competition in the nation, with the Nittany Lions challenging 11 opponents who were either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll at the time of the match.
Under Dambach’s direction, the No. 15 Penn State women’s soccer team gears up for its final match of the 2024 regular season on Sunday, October 27, as the Nittany Lions travel east to Columbus, Ohio, to square off against the No. 21 Ohio State Buckeyes from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is slated for noon (ET), with the match set to stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
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Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women’s soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women’s soccer team on X and Instagram @PennStateWSOC, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at /PSUWomensSoccer.