Lowry among CAA's soccer legacy
Annie Lowry accomplished quite a bit as a member of the James Madison University women's soccer team.
Her greatest accolade, however, may have more than one year after graduating.
Lowry, a graduate of Butler High School, was recently named to the Colonial Athletic Association women's soccer Silver Anniversary team.
Lowry was one of 25 players from the league, including three other Dukes' players — Kim Argy (2002-05), Ashley Williamson (1992-95) and Corky Julien, last year's CAA Player of the year.
"We were very pleased with that," said Dukes coach Dave Lombardo. "At the time, we were one of the new programs to come to the CAA and we wanted to establish a good tradition of winning.
"We've had some great players who brought us some CAA championships," Lombardo added.
The team was selected by a panel of current and former head coaches in the conference.
Lowry, a four-year starting forward with the Dukes, was selected to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America first-team in 2007 and was a three-time All-CAA, all-region and all-state honoree.
She still ranks among JMU's career top 10 in goals (28) and points (74) and led the Dukes to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
"It's a great honor," said Lowry, who works for IBM and resides in the Washington, D.C. area. "Never in my life did I dream that would happen."
"Annie obviously left her mark in the program," said Lombardo. "You don't go All-American and get to be on this prestigious group. She put in a lot of hard work and dedication.
"To a fault, she's a perfectionist. It's not enough for her to be good, but to be the best," he added.
Lombardo knew that when Lowry came out of Butler, where she posted 84 goals and 122 points in varsity action, including 30 goals her senior season. She was also a member of two Butler squads that reached the PIAA championship game.
When she joined the Dukes program, she felt a new camaraderie.
"The team was very much like a family," said Lowry. "We bonded well. I had a chance to be the captain. We were closely knit. The reason I had success is the team worked for me.
"We had a good run while we were there. We had a couple of CAA runs and my senior year we were undefeated at home," Lowry added.
Lowry, of course, was a big reason why.
"Offensively, Annie could break a game open at any time," said Lombardo. "At 6-feet-2, she had a cannon for a left foot and great technical ability.
"She can keep you in a game with bombs out of range that others couldn't do ... Other teams had to adjust to shut her down and when they did, someone else would score. She drew a lot of attention," Lombardo added.
For now, Lowry did not move on to professional soccer, but is currently playing in two co-ed leagues as well as a women's league, which includes some former JMU players.
At least collegiately, Lowry can add another honor to her illustrious career.
"The list is definitely high quality with some All-American players," said Lowry. "I played against some of them and with some of them. It's an honor to be on the list."
