Southern Connecticut State University men’s soccer head coach Tom Lang, who has directed the program for the past quarter century, has announced his retirement, effective March 1, it was announced on Monday.

Lang has been at the helm of the Owls program since 1997.

“My time at Southern Connecticut has been a tremendous experience,” Lang said in a statement. “I’ve been fortunate to coach outstanding teams as well as some extremely talented student-athletes while working alongside some great assistant coaches. These last 25 years have been amazing, and I’ll miss calling Southern Connecticut home.”

As the all-time winning coach in SCSU men’s soccer history, Lang directed the Owls to a pair of NCAA Division II national championships, in 1998 and 1999. With the Owls, Lang has amassed a career record of 307-117-55 and a winning percentage of .698.

“We are incredibly lucky that Tom Lang chose Southern as his professional home for the last 25 years,” Vice President for Student Affairs Tracy Tyree said in a statement. “He has made a difference in the lives of countless young men who have excelled on the field and in the classroom. He leaves a legacy of success that will be felt for many years to come. I am grateful for all of coach Lang’s contributions to Southern Athletics and wish him a very happy and well-deserved retirement.”

Lang guided the Owls to 13 NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and is a two-time NSCAA Division II coach of the year honoree, earning the honor in 1998 and 1999. He led the Owls to five Northeast 10 Conference Regular-Season Championships and one tournament championship in 2007. Lang’s program has produced 25 All-Americans.

“Tom Lang has enjoyed an amazing career at Southern Connecticut, and we thank him for everything that he has done for this department, university and the thousands of student-athletes that he has guided,” director of athletics Chris Barker said in a statement. “He has led one of the NCAA’s historically great men’s soccer programs for the last 25 years and his impact will last well past his coaching time. The amount of gratitude that Southern Athletics and Southern Connecticut State University has for Tom Lang is immeasurable.”

Lang also coached at Fairleigh Dickinson University for seven years prior to coming to Southern Connecticut, which was preceded by a four-year stint at Hofstra.

His college career recod is 399-201-72 (.647) over 36 seasons as a men’s soccer head coach. Lang also held a record of 26-23-5 as Adelphi’s women’s soccer head coach from 1987 through 1989. Combined, he retires with 425 career wins and a .629 winning percentage.

As a student-athlete, Lang was a four-year standout at Adelphi University, winning the 1974 NCAA Division II Championship and led the Panthers to four consecutive NCAA tournament berths, including the program’s first at the Division I level in 1976. Lang, a three-year captain who scored 41 goals and added 23 assists for 105 career points, is believed to be the only player in NCAA Division II history to win a National Championship as a student-athlete and as a coach.

In 1984, Lang coached Steuben SC Lynbrook to the national Over-30 championship.

Lang was been inducted into the Adelphi Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994, as well as the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame in 2015 and Long Island Soccer Football League Hall of Fame in 2016.

Southern Connecticut said that it will conduct a national search for the university’s next men’s soccer head coach to commence in the coming months.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.