Brian Pensky, the all-time winningest coach in Terrapins women’s soccer history, has left to take the same position at Tennessee after seven seasons with the Terps.

Pensky was first contacted by the Volunteers late last week. After a visit to Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 20, Pensky initially decided he would remain as Terps coach.

But after mulling his options over the weekend, Pensky ultimately chose to leave the program he helped lead from mediocrity to national prominence.

“Today is a very sad day for me personally, because I’m no longer the head coach of the University of Maryland,” Pensky said in a telephone interview last night. “I didn’t know that I’d really ever be saying those words.”

Pensky took over the Terps’ program in 2005, after spending three seasons as an assistant for the men’s soccer team under coach Sasho Cirovski. Pensky replaced Cirovski’s wife, Shannon Higgins-Cirovski, in taking his first women’s coaching job.

The transition wasn’t particularly smooth for the Terps under their new coach, as the team finished below .500 in each of Pensky’s first four seasons.

But beginning in 2009, the Terps swiftly moved from the bottom of the ACC to conference and national contention.

In that stretch, the Terps went 44-14-9, twice reaching the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. In 2010, when the Terps were stunned in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, they earned their first-ever No. 1 overall seed, and Pensky was named the 2010 Soccer America National Coach of the Year.

“It stinks to see him go,” Cirovski said of his former colleague and close friend. “It’s a very big loss for me personally because he’s such a dear friend. … He’s a special person and we’re all going to miss him dearly, and I certainly wish him the best of luck.”

The athletics department plans to begin a nationwide coaching search for his replacement immediately, according to Deputy Athletic Director Nate Pine.

“We thank Brian for all that he has done during his tenure at Maryland and all the success he has brought to this program,” Pine said in a statement. “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Pensky met yesterday morning with his Terps team, which he said was stunned by the news. Pensky’s assistants, Jonathan Morgan and Laurie George, plan to remain in College Park and could be considered for the coaching vacancy, Pensky said.

While the team he built awaits his replacement, Pensky will face his own set of unique challenges in the SEC.

He’ll take over a program that has reached the Sweet 16 five times since 2002 but has made the NCAA Tournament only once in the last three seasons. In that time, the Terps knocked off the Volunteers twice.

He’ll also need to leave the life he and his family have built in the area — Pensky said his three children, whom he told about the move last night, “are 50 percent tears and 50 percent smiles” — and a team of players he recruited himself.

But the resources available at Tennessee, including a $7.5 million women’s soccer complex and Knoxville’s passion for the Volunteers, ultimately proved to be the deciding factor in a trying decision-making process.

“I love it here and I’ve had an amazing experience, but the opportunity that was presented to me and my family at Tennessee was too good to pass up,” Pensky said. “I’m very much looking forward to the challenge there.”

cwalsh@umdbk.com