Adam Clay is set to enter his ninth season as Penn State Harrisburg women’s soccer head coach in 2020.

 

Since taking over at Penn State Harrisburg, he’s led the Lions to four conference playoff tournament appearances and a pair of trips to the ECAC Division III Championship Tournament. Under Clay’s tutelage, 15 players have earned all-conference honors, including 2015 Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Rookie of the Year Kristen Stark.

 

Most recently, Clay guided the Blue & White to 11 wins, an ECAC Tournament berth and an appearance in the 2019 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Championship Game. Mackenzie Haladay earned ECAC All-Conference Second Team recognition, while five players in Haladay (1T), Rhyan Socash (1T), Haley Vavrek (2T), Elizabeth Clippinger (3T) and Sydney Hemler (3T) earned NEAC All-Conference accolades. Stark made history as well, as she became the program’s all-time leader in both goals scored and total points this past fall.

 

In 2018, Penn State Harrisburg fell by the slimmest of margins to eventual runner-up Mary Washington in the CAC Playoff Tournament. Three of Clay’s players in Haladay, Madison Hemler and Kaeleigh Smedley were recognized with CAC Second-Team All-Conference honors.

 

The 2017 season saw the Lions rack up 12 victories and become the school’s first women's program to secure a spot in the CAC’s Postseason Tournament. The team also earned an ECAC Tournament berth and advanced to the round of eight after knocking off top-seeded Lebanon Valley in first round action. Stark and Hemler picked up all-conference second-team honors for their efforts.

 

In 2015, Clay’s squad led the CAC in scoring with 27 total goals, while Stark was named the conference’s rookie of the year after becoming the program’s first-ever CAC All-Conference First-Team selection.

 

In 2013, Clay’s group claimed the school's first-ever CAC victory when the Lions defeated Wesley in October. In his first year at the helm, Clay led the Lions to the semifinal round of the 2012 NEAC Tournament, while Lyndsay Naughton (1T), Lindsey Haldeman (1T), Fay Ansary (2T) and Mackenzie Gates (3T) earned all-conference recognition.

 

Clay was the top assistant on the men’s soccer coaching staff at Bloomsburg in 2005. He has been active as a coach in the Hershey area since 2005 and was named the Hershey Soccer Club Coaching Director in 2010. He is the founder of and a former player/head coach for the semi-professional team Hershey FC; a club which competes in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL).

 

A standout scorer for Bloomsburg, Clay followed up his collegiate career with a professional stint playing for the Reading Rage in 2004 before signing with the Harrisburg City Islanders (now Penn FC) in 2005. Clay won a United Soccer League (USL) Second Division Championship with the club in 2007.

 

Clay was a three-time all-region first-team honoree during his illustrious playing career at Bloomsburg where he served as team captain for two seasons. He currently ranks third on the program’s all-time scoring list and he was the recipient of Bloomsburg’s Danny Litwhiler Award—Underclass Male Athlete of the Year in 2003. His efforts were recognized by his alma mater when he was inducted into the Bloomsburg Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.

 

As a high school player, he earned all-conference honors as a senior at Dallas Senior High School after contributing for a pair of state championship-contending teams in 1999 and 2000.