John Sumoski was named the Franklin & Marshall College women's soccer program's 11th coach in the spring of 2018 and has already taken the Diplomats to new heights of success both on the field and in the classroom.

Sumoski led F&M women's soccer to new heights during the 2022 campaign where the Diplomats cracked the national rankings for the first time in program history, ascending to as high as No. 21 in the nation. This new feat came after a dominant September where F&M went unbeaten and outscored opponents 19-2 in the month.

When the Diplomats returned to the field in 2021, F&M had a historic season that saw the Diplomats make their first NCAA Tournament in program history. The Diplomats won their first-ever NCAA Tournament match against Western Connecticut State by a 2-1 score before falling by a single goal to eventual national champion Christopher Newport. That success came on the heels of F&M advancing to the Centennial Conference Championship for the first time in program history after a thrilling 1-0 victory over No. 2-ranked Johns Hopkins. Only penalty kicks against seventh-ranked McDaniel denied the team from its first-ever Centennial Championship. The Diplomats overall posted a 14-4-3 record as the team set new school records for both shutouts (13) and team GAA (0.47). Meg O'Callahan '23 became the program's first All-American since 1990 while two Diplomats were named to the all-region team and five players were named All-Centennial Conference. Not to be outdone in the classroom, the Diplomats tied the school record with 19 players named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll.

The 2019 season saw the Diplomats finishing with their first winning record since 2011 and their first double-digit victory season since 2005. F&M enjoyed its best statistical season in more than a decade as the team's 1.65 goals per game average was the highest since 2003 and F&M's 1.18 assists per game average was unmatched since the 2005 campaign. Although the 2020 season was canceled, the Diplomats achieved great success in the classroom as 19 student-athletes were named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll.

A 1992 graduate from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Sumoski spent the previous 16 years as the head coach of the women's soccer program at Wilkes University. He left as the program's all-time winningest coach, leading the Colonels to a 158-128-32 record including 14 trips to the MAC Freedom tournament, three trips to the ECAC Tournament, and an NCAA Tournament Berth in 2017. He was a four-time conference coach of the year and named the 2017 ECAC Division III Coach of the Year.

Sumoski put together 11 seasons of nine-plus wins, including six years of at least 12. He coached 13 Mid-Atlantic All-Region players, 65 All-Freedom Conference players, four conference rookies of the year, and one Freedom Conference player of the year during his time at Wilkes.

Off the field, the Colonels were successful in the classroom under Sumoski, as 48 student-athletes were named to the Freedom Conference's academic honor roll, with three more being named an Academic All-American. The program also earned 15 NSCAA team academic honors.

Sumoski, who has an Advanced National Diploma in coaching from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, while also holding an "A" License from the United States Soccer Federation, coached at Division I Central Michigan University from 2000-02, and before that helped start the women's program at Carlow College as the head coach from 1998-2000. He also spent two seasons at Carnegie Mellon University, in 1995 and 1997, Sumoski was an age group head coach for the Pennsylvania West Girls Olympic Development program.

Sumoski is a former standout player at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, an NCAA Division II member. During his playing days from 1987 to 1990, Sumoski set the record for most goals in a season (18), which was the 10th highest in Division II, and finished with 37 career goals. For his efforts, he was named All-Conference three times and a Regional All-American twice. In April of 2017, he was inducted into the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown's Athletics Hall of Fame. Sumoski has a B.A. in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown in 1992 and earned an M.A. in Athletic Administration from Central Michigan University in 2002.

Sumoski File

Overall

CC Conference

Year

Won

Loss

Tie

Pct.

Won

Loss

Tie

Pct.

Accolades

2018

3

12

1

.219

1

9

0

.100

2019

10

6

1

.618

5

5

0

.500

2020

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

2021

14

4

3

.738

5

3

2

.600

First-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, first-ever CC Championship game, third-highest win total in school history.

2022

10

3

5

.694

4

3

3

.550

First-ever top 25 ranking in program history, climbing to No. 21 in USC Top 25 Poll

5 Seasons

37

25

10

.583

15

20

5

.438