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Tony da Luz enters his ninth season at the helm of the women's soccer team at Wake Forest University. He has led the Demon Deacons to the NCAA tournament every year and Wake Forest has never experienced a losing season.
Under his guidance, 20 Deacs have earned All-ACC honors, including six First-Team selections. Two ACC Rookie of the Year winners as well as two Freshman All-Americans have been Wake players under the da Luz watch. 15 Deacs have been named All-Southeast Region and seven have been selected to ACC Championship all-tournament teams in the da Luz era. With just one senior on the roster, the 2004 campaign marked another successful season for the Deacs despite the youth of the squad. The Deacons once again got off to a quick start with a 6-1-1 record in the first eight games and quickly entered the polls ranked 19th. The Deacons finished the season with a 10-7-2 record and a 4-4-1 mark in the newly expanded ACC. The lone senior, Alli Hunt, earned second team All-ACC honors along with junior Sarah Kozey. Wake Forest reached the NCAA tournament for the ninth time in just 11 years of competition.
The 2003 season brought the team a continued success, including the title to the Wake Forest adidas Women's Soccer Classic in the beginning of the season. The team broke into the top-10 of the national rankings and earned the program's eighth consecutive NCAA tournament berth. Despite a loss in the first-round to UNC-Greensboro, the team closed another season with a winning record and a strong ACC finish.
Also during the 2003 season, the Deacs received the ACC Women's Soccer Fall Sportsmanship Award, an honor that is given annually and recognizes teams who earned the utmost regard from their peers during competition. Alena Thom and Melanie Schneider earned individual recognition by the league with spots on the ACC All-League second-team, while freshman Elizabeth Remy earned a spot on the All-ACC freshman team.
The 2002 season brought Wake Forest one of its best starts in school history, as the Deacs went 9-0 during the first four weeks of the action and was ranked as high as sixth nationally by Soccer Buzz. The Demon Deacons finished the year 13-8-1, including 2-4-1 in conference play. Wake Forest earned their seventh consecutive post-season berth and advanced to the second round of the tournament for the second time in three seasons. Three of da Luz's athletes earned All-ACC honors and were selected to the All-Southeast Region team.
Guiding the Demon Deacons back to the NCAA Tournament after advancing to the semifinals of the ACC Championship, da Luz led Wake Forest to a 9-9-2 overall record and a 3-4 mark in league play in 2001. He saw three of his seniors earn All-ACC honors and two named to the All-Southeast Region team. da Luz earned his 100th career victory during the season, putting him in the century club in only 10 seasons - five of which spent at Wake Forest, where he accumulated 60 wins.
Even without a true goalkeeper, Wake finished 11-8-2 overall in 2000 and 4-3 in the ACC to finish second place in the league, the highest conference finish in school history.
Ranked as high as 12th in the nation and finishing the season 15th, da Luz led the Demon Deacons back to the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the second round before falling to the champions, North Carolina.
Wake Forest enjoyed its best season ever in 1999, finishing with a 16-6-1 overall record and a 4-3 conference mark, finishing third in the ACC. The Demon Deacons reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Wake earned a national ranking as high as seventh, the highest ranking in program history, before finishing the season ranked 12th nationally by the NSCAA.
Selected the 1998 ACC Coach of the Year by a vote of his peers, da Luz led Wake Forest to a 13-7-1 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the powerful ACC regular season race, good for a fourth-place finish.
In his first season, da Luz guided the Demon Deacons to the NCAA Tournament, falling to eventual national champion North Carolina in the first round. Wake Forest finished the season with an 11-8-2 record against a challenging slate of competition and was ranked as high as #12 in the nation.
In 11 years of coaching at the collegiate level, da Luz's career record now stands at 129-95-16, including a seven year mark of 83-53-12 at Wake Forest.
Prior to coming to Wake Forest, da Luz coached for five years at the University of San Diego, where he compiled a 46-42-3 record. Da Luz was entrusted with starting the San Diego program from the ground up in 1992 and in his final two seasons he guided his teams to a 25-13-2 mark.
His final season at San Diego was his most impressive, leading the Toreros to a 17-1 record and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1996.
His success at San Diego earned him West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1996. He was named the West Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association.
da Luz has been involved in coaching for 17years. He worked as an assistant coach for the University of San Diego men's team from 1985 until 1991. He has also been active in coaching at the youth level with his involvement with the Winston-Salem Twins Club organizations.
da Luz achieved success as a player as a midfielder and defender while at San Diego. He was an All-WCC honorable mention selection in both 1981 and 1982. As team captain in 1982, he led the Toreros in assists and earned the team MVP award.
da Luz earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from San Diego in 1985. He and his wife, Amy, reside in Winston-Salem with their children Tyler, Austin and Jonah.
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