Hall of Fame
A key member of Tiger men’s soccer teams that won three straight East Coast Conference (ECC) championships, Rich Pellegrini ’93 was inducted into the Towson Hall of Fame in 2005.
After winning the ECC title in 1989 (Pellegrini was a redshirt), the Tigers came into 1990 with high expectations. Towson won the regular season conference championship and rolled to the ECC tournament finals, facing Drexel and Rich’s twin brother Mike. In the second overtime, the Pellegrini brothers faced each other on the penalty spot, with goalie Rich coming out the winner. Drexel and Towson played to a double-overtime tie, and both Pellegrinis earned tournament MVP honors.
In 1991, Pellegrini backstopped Towson to wins in six of the Tigers’ first eight games, including a victory over Maryland, and a closely fought ECC championship game to make Towson the first team in league history to win three straight championships. The Tigers’ 14 wins that season were the most in program history at the time.
Pellegrini twice earned All-ECC notice and picked up All-Big South conference honors twice. In 1990, he was the team’s freshman of the year. He started all 77 games in goal for the Tigers and allowed 100 goals for his career for a 1.30 goals-against average. He made a career-best 135 saves as a senior, totaling 372 for his career and collected 19 career shutouts, including a program single-season record seven as a junior.
