Luke Dunn named Men's Soccer Head Coach

Luke Dunn | The next head coach for the men's soccer program

By Press release submission

Dec 23, 2022

Purdue University Northwest Athletic Director Rick Costello has announced the hiring of Luke Dunn as the next head coach for the men's soccer program.

"I am thrilled to welcome Luke Dunn as the next head coach of the men's soccer program at Purdue Northwest," said Rick Costello, Director of Athletics. "Luke is a rising star in the head coaching world and has shown great success in developing a program. We are excited for the leadership he will bring to PNW men's soccer."

Dunn returns to Hammond after serving as the head coach for Viterbo University. During his time in La Cross, Wisconsin, he earned a winning percentage of .642 and the past two seasons went 31-3-2 (.889) with the program being ranked in the top 25 for the first time in over 20 years.

"I want to thank Purdue University Northwest and Rick Costello for giving me this opportunity and trusting me to lead the men's soccer team," said Dunn. "I am thrilled at this opportunity and cannot wait to continue to build upon the tradition of success that PNW men's soccer has achieved."

He coached 16 players to All-Conference honors, a CAC Newcomer of the Year in 2021 (Aidan Radford), a CAC Goalkeeper of the Year in 2022 and was the first goalkeeper award won in program history (Ernesto Ascenzo), qualified for CAC Conference Tournament the past three seasons, finished second in the CAC in 2022 and was the highest finish in program history.

Prior to arriving at Viterbo, Dunn served as the assistant coach for the Purdue Northwest men's soccer team for two seasons where he helped coach the team in their first season as NCAA Division II program and qualified for the GLIAC Tournament after being picked last top start the season.

Before his first stint at PNW, he was the assistant coach and goalkeeper coach for the Trine men's and women's soccer teams in 2015 and he held the same position at Valparaiso University in 2014.

He also has club coaching experience where he was the head coach of the Chicago Fire Juniors South team from 2016-2018 and is now currently the Rush Wisconsin West Soccer Club head coach.

As a player, Dunn played his collegiate ball at Valparaiso University for four years where he was a three-time Horizon League Honor Roll member, a three-time Valparaiso University Student-Athlete Presidential Honors Recipient, and was part of the team that won the 2011 Horizon League Championship. He also played for the Vikings AA, a semi-professional soccer team in the National Soccer League: Major Division, and won the Major Division Outdoor Championship in 2017.

Dunn received his bachelors degree in history and secondary education from Valparaiso in 2014 and earned his masters degree in leadership and sports management from Trine in 2016.