Navy head coach Cindy Timchal named Allison Valentino as the Associate Head Coach of the Navy women's lacrosse program on April 6, 2007. Valentino comes to Navy after a wealth of experience at three different universities and as a standout player at Loyola College in Baltimore.

"We are thrilled and excited to have Allison Valentino join us here at the Naval Academy," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "I have known Allison professionally for 10 years. She is an exceptional coach and an outstanding recruiter of talent. It is those skills and her enthusiasm for women's lacrosse that will help the U.S. Naval Academy build a championship team. She will be a very welcome addition, not only to the Navy women's lacrosse program, but to the institution as well."

For the previous year and a half, Valentino served as the head coach at Ohio University before the university decided to drop the program on Jan. 24, 2007. While at Ohio, Valentino guided the Bobcats to a 4-12 record in 2006 and had two players earn All-Conference honors and another named as the ALC Goalie of the Year. Valentino was the fifth head coach in the program's history and the third since women's lacrosse was returned to varsity status in 1999.

Valentino took over the Ohio job after serving as an assistant coach under Timchal for one year in 2004. While at Maryland, she served as the primary recruiting coordinator while working extensively with the offense and goalies. Maryland achieved a national ranking of seventh in the IWLCA Coaches Poll and landed three players on the IWLCA All-America team in 2004. In addition, three players were members of the United States Development Team and one was an United States World Cup team alternate.

Valentino spent six seasons at Duke University, first as assistant and then associate head coach, prior to her experience at Maryland. At Duke, Valentino helped build the Blue Devils program into one of the elite programs in the country. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of her six seasons, including three straight quarterfinal appearances and a trip to the national semifinals in 1999, equaling a school record in victories. Twelve Duke players were named IWLCA All-Americans during her tenure, as well as 19 All-ACC selections. In addition, the 2004 recruiting class was ranked tops in the nation by Inside Lacrosse Magazine and five of the six recruiting classes were ranked in the top seven nationally. The 2003 class included four members off the USA Under-19 team and was ranked second in the nation by Inside Lacrosse.

Valentino also strives for success in the classroom. She has served as an academic advisor to all of her teams. Two years ago at Ohio, the team was recognized as a "Merit Squad" for having a team GPA of over 3.00 and two of the four seniors on the team were named to the IWLCA Honor Roll. While at Duke in 2004, the Blue Devils won the IWLCA Merit Award for leading all NCAA Division I schools with a 3.40 team GPA.

As a student-athlete, Valentino was a two-time All-CAA selection at Loyola College in Baltimore and earned IWLCA All-America accolades in 1996 and 1997. She led the Greyhounds to three NCAA Tournament national semifinals and a spot in the 1997 NCAA Championship game. Valentino played on the Loyola team that earned the No. 1 ranking and won a school-record 16 games in 1994. She finished her career with 71 goals and 49 assists for 120 points.

A native of Fulton, Md., Valentino earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in clinical psychology at Loyola.

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