Hall of Fame
Richie came to the United States so he could play soccer while continuing his education at the same time. It was either one or the other but not both simultaneously in his native hometown of Ludwigshafen, Germany where he advanced readily through the youth soccer ranks.
“I played for a local team at first,” he recalled, “then at age 12 I made the state team, at 15 the regional team and then 16-17 the German Youth National Team. While I was playing for Kaiserslautern we won a national championship. I was offered a pro contract at 16 but that would have meant I would have to give up Gymnasium (high school). My parents were strict about education so that wasn’t going to happen.”
Through his research of intercollegiate athletics in America Richie discovered he could pursue both as a student-athlete in the United States. With help from his coaches he introduced himself to colleges. He was heavily recruited before finally deciding to attend Towson.
“On my official visit Towson felt like home right away,” Richie said. “Coach (Frank) Olszewski was very personable, I felt very comfortable with him. The players were amazing from the very first second of my career to the last second. Coming from 3,000 miles away I didn’t know anything about how academics worked in America or what Division I soccer and athletics were all about. So for me it was more about the people and that’s why I chose Towson.”
At Towson Richie excelled on the field and in the classroom. He accumulated numerous honors in soccer while graduating with a 4.0 GPA in Modern Languages.
He ranks second on Towson’s all-time career goals list with 47 and third in points with 111. He is the program’s single season record holder in goals with 21 and in points with 45 the same year in 1998. As the second leading scorer nationally, those 21 goals remained the America East Conference’s single season record. The 45 points were a league record (since been broken). He was a second team National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American for his play that season. He was a first team All-America East selection twice and the Conference Player of the Year once.
Richie is the only player in program history to be named a NSCAA Scholar All-American and ECAC Division I Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was the America East Scholar Athlete of the Year in 1997 and 1998 as well as a CoSIDA District Academic All-America selection. He helped the Tigers finish the 1995 season 14-4 as the 20th-ranked team in the nation, Towson’s highest Division I national ranking.
A two-time All-South Atlantic Region honorable mention selection he was Towson’s Male Rookie of the Year. As a senior, he was honored as the Academic Achievement Award recipient.
Later he was the number one overall pick by Maryland Mania of the USL A-League and later the number two overall selection of the Baltimore Blast, playing one year in the MISL. He coached women’s college soccer for 16 years, serving as a head coach at Western Illinois, Vassar and St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and as an assistant at Villa Julie (now Stevenson University), Smith College where he earned a master’s degree in exercise science and sports studies, Dartmouth and most recently Johns Hopkins. Internationally Richie has assisted with the German Girls U17 and U16 National Teams and FFC Frankfurt.
