On the heels of a 24-game winless streak against conference opponents, Maryland women’s soccer has announced that head coach Ray Leone’s contract will not be renewed.

“We will identify the strongest candidates and hire a dynamic leader who will build our program to be nationally competitive,” senior associate athletic director Shawn Flynn said in a release from the athletic department. “I’m confident we will find an outstanding coach and educator who will help our student-athletes excel both on and off the field.”

After its 2-1 overtime loss to Michigan on Sunday, the Terps became only the second team to have back-to-back winless Big Ten seasons since 1994, when the conference introduced women’s soccer. 

[Maryland women’s soccer goes winless in Big Ten for second straight year, falls to Michigan, 2-1]

Maryland’s current rough patch against Big Ten opponents is the second longest winless streak of any women’s soccer team in the conference’s history. Iowa, who also went winless in back-to-back seasons in 2003 and 2004, failed to win in 27 straight conference games from 2003 to 2005.

Leone first joined the Terps in 2016 and amassed a 27-60-18 record during his six-season tenure as head coach. He guided Maryland to its first-ever Big Ten Tournament in 2019, but the Terps have not won a conference game since that year.

Leone previously coached at Berry College, Creighton, Clemson, Arizona State and Harvard, and ranks in the top-25 of active Division I head coaches in wins, amassing a 309-212-63 record over his career.

He has led three different schools — Arizona State, Clemson and Harvard — to the NCAA Tournament, but wasn’t able to make a breakthrough with the Terps, who last made the national tourney in 2012.

“I’m proud to have coached at the University of Maryland and will always be grateful for having the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to coach at my dream school since I was a kid,” Leone said in the release.

Assistant coach Kerry Dziczkaniec will serve as the interim head coach while the school searches for its next head coach.