For Patrick Long ’08, the 2023 season will mark his seventh 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.

Long will enter the 2023 season looking for his 50th career coaching win (48-45-16, 31-29-9 PSAC).

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: August 2023