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Charlie Grimes
Charlie Grimes has been the head coach of Lebanon Valley's men's soccer team since 2005. He is LVC Men's Soccer's all-time winningest coach.
Lebanon Valley posted seven victories in 2022, while multiple players received individual recognition for their efforts. Grimes helped guide three players to earning All-MAC Commonwealth honors, including Nathan Prex (Rookie of the Year), Aaron Weitzel (Second Team) and Peter Foerster (Second Team).
The Dutchmen went 8-9-2 in 2019 and earned their 12th consecutive trip to the MAC Commonwealth Championship Tournament. Three Dutchmen were named All-Conference, including Rob Hanosek and Kurtis Rineer (Second Team), and David Alcock (Honorable Mention).
In 2018, Grimes guided the Dutchmen to a 10-6-1 overall record and a 6-2 MAC Commonwealth mark. LVC made yet another trip to the MAC Commonwealth Semifinal round, and three Dutchmen were named all-conference, including Riley Katshir, Rob Hanosek, and Kurtis Rineer.
The Dutchmen posted a 15-5-1 overall mark in 2017 and rattled off four straight wins to earn back-to-back ECAC crowns. Grimes guided five players to the All-MAC Commonwealth team, including Jake Kline (First Team), Tyler Skye (Second Team), Riley Katshir (Second Team), Cam Avery (Second Team), and Kurtis Rineer (Honorable Mention).
LVC won 18 games in the 2016 season, the most wins in a season in Dutchmen history. Grimes and his coaching staff also saw their starting goalie Cam Avery notch six shutout wins, the most-ever in a single season, and the Dutchmen cracked the NCAA top-25 for the first time in program history.
The squad ended 2015 with an 8-10 overall mark and a 5-3 record in Commonwealth Conference action. Alex Detweiler and Cam Avery landed on the All-Commonwealth Second Team, while Tyler Skye anad John McHale received Honorable Mention, with Grimes earning Co-Coach of the Year recognition, the second honor of his career.
Grimes' eighth season was a successful one, as LVC finished 14-6-2 and qualified for the Commonwealth Conference and ECAC tournaments. The Dutchmen took a step forward from the success they had in 2011 by reaching the CC finals before ultimately being eliminated at Messiah. They hosted the ECAC quarterfinal match against Neumann and won.
Three players were named all-conference, including Cam Alexander, who took home Rookie of the Year honors. Additionally, Alexander and Kelly Hess were both named NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic and ECAC South All-Stars, and the team was named an NSCAA Team Academic Award winner.
In 2011, the Dutchmen finished 12-8-1 after reaching the Commonwealth Conference semifinals and earning a bid to play in the ECAC South Tournament. Additionally, Grimes saw three players named to the All-Commonwealth teams and two to the NSCAA Division III All-Mid-Atlantic Team.
In 2010, the team finished with a 9-9-1 overall record and earned its third-straight berth to the Commonwealth Conference playoffs. The Dutchmen continued post-season play with an invitation to the ECAC South Tournament. Two players earned all-conference honors and Chris Hall was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II Second Team.
Posting an 11-8-2 record in 2009, Grimes guided the team to the Commonwealth Conference Playoffs. The squad went on to the ECAC South Region Tournament for the third time in program history and advanced to the semifinal round. Justin Hutchinson paced the team with First Team All-CC honors and NSCAA second-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region accolades.
Grimes guided LVC to an historic 2008 season that saw the program earn their first-ever wins over national powers Messiah and Elizabethtown on the way to the Commonwealth Conference regular-season championship. At Elizabethtown, LVC came away with a drama-packed 2-1 overtime win, and a late goal at home helped LVC upset the eventual national champion Falcons, who were ranked 5th in the nation at the time. After the season, Grimes was named the 2008 Commonwealth Conference coach of the year.
In his first season as head coach of the Flying Dutchmen, Grimes led his team to a 7-9-1 record and a berth in the 2005 Commonwealth Conference playoffs. In 2006, his team won five of its final six games and finished 8-10.
Grimes served as an assistant men’s soccer coach for Lebanon Valley from 2002-04 under Head Coach Mark Pulisic. During his time at LVC, Grimes helped coach the Flying Dutchmen to a 27-25-5 record. In 2002 and 2004, the Valley qualified for both the Commonwealth Conference and ECAC playoffs, and the 2002 team set a single-season record for wins while finishing 12-6-2.
Grimes is a 1997 graduate of Elizabethtown College, where he was a star midfielder. A two-time All-Middle Atlantic Conference selection, he helped the Blue Jays win three MAC championships and make four appearances in the NCAA tournament. After graduating from E-town, Grimes played one year apiece with the Philadelphia Freedom (1997) and Reading Rage (1998) professional soccer teams, both of the USISL. He helped the Freedom reach the U.S. Open Cup and was named team MVP.
Prior to his stint as an LVC assistant, Grimes served as the head boys soccer coach at his high school alma mater, Northern Lebanon, in 2000 and 2001. Grimes, who graduated with a bachelor of science degree in elementary education at Elizabethtown, was also a sixth-grade teacher at Northern Lebanon from 1999-2005. He also received a master of education degree in sports management with a coaching emphasis from Millersville University in 2004, and he holds an NSCAA Premier Coaching license.
At Northern Lebanon, the Jonestown, Pa. native was a four-sport athlete, competing in soccer, basketball, baseball, and tennis, and was a league all-star in all four sports. In soccer, Grimes scored 34 career goals, which was a school record at the time.
Grimes resides in Ono, Pa. with his wife, Jessica, son, Simon, and daughter, Mira.
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