Bio
After graduating from Rosati Kain High School in St. Louis, Lombardo-Baker went on to play women’s soccer collegiately at both University of Missouri – St. Louis and Cardinal Newman College. At UMSL, Karen led the team in scoring in 1980, 1981, and 1982, while leading the team to the NCAA D1 Final Four each year. In 1984, she played for Cardinal Newman, leading the team to a runner-up finish in the NAIA national title game and was named an All-American.
Lombardo-Baker began her coaching career at Flo-Valley in 1985. In 1988, she became the first and youngest woman to win a NJCAA Women’s Soccer National Championship. Her Flo-Valley teams went back to the national tournament in 1989 (2nd Place Finish) and won another national title in 1990. She was named NJCAA and NCSAA Coach of the Year in both 1988 and 1990.
As the head women’s soccer coach for the STLCC –Florissant Valley Norsewomen, there was a lot of pressure to win to keep up with the men’s program. Coach Lombardo- Baker did just that in her eight-year span from 1985-1993.
During her dominant run as head coach, Karen coached eleven NJCAA All-Americans, including 2018 NJCAA Women’s Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductees Laura Goeke and Kelly Drury. Coach Lombardo-Baker coached two NJCAA Soccer Hall of Fame inductees in Kelly Drury and Laura Goeke. Both were two time NJCAA All-Americans and also named national tournament offensive most valuable players. Drury brought home the honors in 1988 & 1989 and Goeke in 1990.
There aren’t many coaches in the region or in the entire NJCAA that can boast such a fantastic run of making it to the title game three years in a row.
Lombardo Baker was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2016.