Navy head coach Cindy Timchal picked up the 500th win of her Hall of Fame career as the Mids beat Holy Cross 19-7 on Saturday.
Timchal became the first coach in NCAA Division I women's lacrosse history to reach the milestone and just the third coach in NCAA lacrosse history. Salisbury men's coach Jim Berkman has 518 career wins after the Gulls beat Southern Virginia today, and TCNJ women's coach Sharon Pfluger has 501 career wins, hitting the 500 plateau last weekend in a win over Brockport State.
“Five hundred wins are the players; all the losses are the coach,” Timchal said after her historic win. “I am very grateful to be in a position to be coaching and achieve this milestone victory. It goes without saying that it is the players that compete hard on the field. Pleased with this victory for our team and happy that it was 500. Now we can move on to just getting ready for our next game. I credit the great players and great staff that we have for putting it all together to get to such a milestone in my head coaching career.”
Saturday's win was fueled by Jenna Collins, Julia Collins and Meg O'Donnell with four goals each and pushed Navy's record to 9-2 for the season and 4-0 in the Patriot League.
Timchal's run at Navy is the latest successful chapter in her amazing career. Timchal is the only varsity coach in Navy's history and has gone 164-45 at the school since the 2008 season. The Mids have won eight Patriot League championships and advanced to the NCAA tournament five times, highlighted by last year's run to the NCAA semifinals.
Timchal began her coaching career at Northwestern in 1982, compiling a 76-40 record in nine seasons, leading the Wildcats to five NCAA tournament appearances.
In 1991, she moved to Maryland began a tremendous run of success. The Terps won eight national championships under Timchal, including seven straight from 1995 to 2001. All told, she has compiled a record of 500-131 and led her teams to the NCAA tournament 26 times.
Timchal was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2012 and was a member of the inaugural Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame last year.
Timchal's coaching tree is just as impressive as her own accomplishments. All three head coaches besides herself in last year's final four were former players of hers: Penn State's Missy Dohert, Maryland's Cathy Reese, and Boston College's Acacia Walker-Weinstein. Reese has won Amonte Hiller, has won seven national titles.
Amonte Hiller offered congratulations to her former coach after the milestone.