Having built the Lycoming College men's soccer team into a burgeoning Division III powerhouse, Nate Gibboney is set for his 11th season as the head coach of the Lycoming College men's soccer team in 2023.

In his first 10 seasons, Gibboney has led the Warriors to a 117-45-25 (.693) record, three conference titles, seven conference championship games, four NCAA Tournament appearances, four NCAA Tournament wins and an appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16. Along the way, he has coached four conference rookies of the year, three conference defensive players of the year, four All-Americans, two NCAA Postgraduate Scholars, 21 all-region selections, eight Academic All-MAC picks, five Academic All-District honorees, an Academic All-American, 41 all-conference selections and eight Scholar All-Region honorees. In addition, the team has earned three United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Awards.

The resurgent Warriors finished with a 10-4-7 overall record and a 6-2 record in the MAC Freedom in 2022, reaching the MAC Freedom Championship game, the seventh time in his nine years as coach that the Warriors reached the title game. He coached three all-region and five all-conference selections, including the conference's defensive player of the year in Brayden Wise and rookie of the year in Keller Chamovitz. He also became the school's all-time wins leader with a 5-0 win over Mount Aloysius on Sept. 24, his 111th career win.

In 2019, the Warriors reached the conference title game for the third straight year, notching a 13-7 record and a 6-2 mark in the MAC Commonwealth, as the team helped Gibboney become the second coach in program history to reach 100 career wins with a 3-0 win over Arcadia in the MAC Commonwealth Championship semifinal.

The Warriors finished 15-4-2 overall and 6-2 in the MAC Commonwealth in 2018, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time in program history. The Warriors also recorded a school-record sixth-straight winning season, as the team was led by five all-conference picks including MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-American Sainclair Tueno and Rookie of the Year Colin Wieand. Chris Solecki became the school's first Google Cloud Academic All-American, as the goalkeeper guided the team on a school-record 10-game winning streak. Four Warriors were named to the all-region team as the team hovered in the national rankings throughout the season. 

In 2017, Gibboney led the Warriors to a school-record 19 wins, finishing 19-3, en route to one of the best seasons in program history. With a nucleus that included six all-conference and four all-region selections, the Warriors rose to as high as fourth in both the United Soccer Coaches and d3soccer.com poll during the season. With a 2-1 win over No. 1-ranked Messiah in the MAC Commonwealth Championship, the team also finished at the top of the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region rankings. The Warriors hosted the NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds for the second time in three years, winning a first-round game over Lehman, 2-0. The team finished the year ninth in the final D3soccer.com poll and had a record 11 MAC Academic Honor Roll selections.

The Warriors finished the 2015 season with a remarkable school-record 18-2-2 record, a school-record 20-game unbeaten streak and national rankings of 12 (d3soccer.com) and 10 (NSCAA), as the team hosted a Division III regional for the first time, posting a 1-0 win over Johnson & Wales and a 2-1 win over Dickinson, and advanced to the Division III sectionals for the first time in program history, where they fell, 2-0, to the eventual national champion, Amherst. In the process, Gibboney was named the MAC Commonwealth Co-Coach of the Year as the Warriors completed its first undefeated conference slate in program history, going 7-0-1. The Warriors finished the year with 52 goals, the squad's most since the 2005 team scored 58, while the squad's 0.57 goals-against average set a school record. 

In his second year with the Warriors, Gibboney led the team to a 15-3-3 record, advancing to the Commonwealth Conference championship game for the second straight year and finishing the year ranked fourth in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional poll. The team's 0.64 goals-against average also smashed the school record of 0.80 set in 2003. 

The ninth head coach in the program's history, Gibboney became the first rookie coach in program history to record a 10-win season, posting an 11-8-4 debut. With a renewed focus on defense, the Warriors allowed just 0.91 goals per game, tying the school record with 10 shutouts during the season. Included in the stingy defensive stats was a stretch of 548 shutout minutes that helped the Warriors capture the first Commonwealth Conference title in program history, as the team defeated eventual national champion, Messiah, 5-4, in penalty kicks after a 0-0 double overtime tie in the conference semifinals. In the championship game, the Warriors defeated Elizabethtown, 5-3, in penalty kicks after another scoreless game. In addition, senior Justin Walker became the first student-athlete in school history to earn an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

Gibboney came to Lycoming after spending three years as an assistant coach at Lafayette College. With the Leopards, Gibboney assisted the head coach in all aspects of coaching and program administration and was actively involved in recruiting. He helped the team to three winning seasons, culminating the run when the team won the 2012 Patriot League title and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Gibboney also served a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Vassar College. He also acted as interim head coach of the Brewers in the spring of 2009. That fall, the Vassar coaching staff was recognized as the Liberty League co-Coaching Staff of the Year after leading a squad that went 9-6-1 - the team's best record in six seasons - and featured the Brewers' first Liberty League Player of the Year.

Gibboney began his career as the assistant coach at Westminster College in 2005-06, where he helped the team win the 2006 Presidents’ Athletic Conference title. He coached five all-conference selections and one all-region pick during his career with the Titans.

Gibboney was a four-year starter and two-year captain at Susquehanna University, where he helped the Crusaders reach the postseason for the first time in school history in 2003. Gibboney was named the team’s Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and he was a First Team All-Commonwealth Conference selection.

Gibboney earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Susquehanna in 2005 and a Master of Education degree from Westminster in 2007. He holds Advanced National, National, Advanced Regional, Regional and Goalkeeping Coaching Licenses.

He and his wife, Becky, who is an assistant coach with the women's basketball team, reside in Loyalsock Township.

The Gibboney File

Hometown: Huntington, Pa.

Wife - Becky

Education

2005

Bachelor of Science - Business Administration

Susquehanna University

2007

Master of Education

Westminster College

Collegiate Playing Experience

2001-04

Susquehanna University

Collegiate Coaching Experience

2005-06

Westminster College

Assistant Coach

2007-09

Vassar College

Assistant Coach

2010-12

Lafayette College

Assistant Coach

2013-

Lycoming College

Head Coach

Honors & Awards

2009

Liberty League Co-Coaching Staff of the Year

Assistant Coach - Vassar College

2013-14

Robert Darrow Curry Coach of the Year

2015

MAC Commonwealth Co-Coach of the Year

2015-16

Robert Darrow Curry Coach of the Year

Gibboney Year-By-Year

Year

W

L

T

Pct.

Note

2013

11

8

4

.565

Won first conference title and NCAA Tournament games in school history

2014

15

3

3

.786

Highest winning percentage in program history

2015

18

2

2

.864

Reached third round of NCAA Championship

2016

9

6

4

.579

Coached team to two wins over top-25 programs

2017

19

3

0

.864

Won team's third MAC Commonwealth title; coached four all-region players

2018

15

4

2

.762

Team earned first at-large berth to NCAA Tournament in program history

2019

13

7

0

.650

Team reached conference title game for the third straight year

2020

-

-

-

-

Season cancelled due to COVID-19; went 3-1 in spring exhibition games

2021

7

8

3

.472

Brayden Wise earns First Team United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors

2022

10

4

7

.643

Warriors reached conference title game for seventh time in his tenure

Total

117

45

25

.693