Duncan Hubley coached the Cabrini men’s soccer program for 11 seasons, beginning in 1988 and finishing with a 21-win season in 1998. Looking back, Hubley remembers his time with the Cavaliers as more than just a job.
“It was my life,” Hubley said. “I was a soccer coach masquerading as an engineer.”
Hubley cut his teeth in the coaching world at 24, heading the boys’ soccer program at Germantown Academy. After accepting an assistant coach job at Saint Joseph’s in 1971, plans changed before he coached a day with the Hawks and he landed at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hubley joined the Cabrini coaching staff after two stints and a combined 12 seasons as an assistant with the Quakers. Between an 11-year run and a single season at Penn, he spent five seasons as the head coach of the men’s soccer team at Spring Garden College. After taking a sabbatical from coaching in 1999, Hubley completed his coaching career with four seasons at Spring-Ford High School near his home.
Cabrini Director of Athletics John Dzik needed a men’s soccer coach following the 1987 campaign. Hubley’s phone rang.
“I knew John because I argued an NAIA rule with him when I was coaching at Spring Garden,” Hubley said. “That phone call meant a lot to me and to how my life has unfolded.”
In 11 seasons, Hubley coached the Cavaliers to 140 overall victories and six conference championships. Cabrini claimed one as a member of the Eastern States Athletic Conference (ESAC) and five with the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) with Hubley at the controls.
Hubley was named conference coach of the year four times during his time with the Blue & White. In 1998, he guided the Cavaliers to their first appearance all-time in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament.
That 1998 team was a special one under Hubley. Cabrini opened the season with 21 straight victories. Goalkeeper Eric Lukach, an All-American that season, posted 13 shutouts.
“We had a lot of really good players on that team,” Hubley said. “We had a fantastic team captain in Wayne Brown, a really good goalkeeper in Eric Lukach – it all came together for us. That was a really special year for me and our program.”
Hubley remembers taking over the Cabrini men’s soccer program and having his work cut out for him in terms of recruiting and building a winning culture. He credits a steadfast coaching staff that stood by him to make the Cavaliers winners.
“We wouldn’t have been nearly as successful as we were without a really hard-working coaching staff,” Hubley says. “Guys like Billy Miles, Joe Kerner and Doug Meder did a great job as assistant coaches for me.”
Hubley’s induction into the Cabrini Athletic Hall of Fame is his third. He is also a member of the Germantown Academy Hall of Fame and Eastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame.
