Storrs — Legendary UConn women's soccer head coach Len Tsantiris announced his retirement Tuesday after guiding the program for 37 seasons.

"It has truly been an honor to work at UConn," Tsantiris said in a release. "I want to thank all the administrators and athletic directors who were supportive of my players and helped create and build the tradition of our program.

"Thank you to my family for their understanding and patience while I've been away from home trying to make our program better. Thank you to all my assistant coaches, players and support staff for all that they did for the program. I appreciate all of their efforts."

Tsantiris finishes his career with 570 wins, ranking second all-time in women's soccer history, while becoming just the second coach to eclipse the 500-win plateau. During his tenure, the Huskies earned 31 NCAA tournament bids, including 26 straight from 1982-2007.

UConn played in four national championship games, seven Final Fours and 18 trips to the national quarterfinals. The Huskies made eight straight Elite Eight appearances from 1993-2000.

Tsantiris, who was inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003, collected numerous awards during his coaching tenure. After winning a program-record 23 matches and earning an appearance in the NCAA championship game, he was named the 1997 NSCAA Division I National Coach of the Year.

"I would like to thank coach Tsantiris for his 37 years of service to the University of Connecticut," athletic director David Benedict said. "He built UConn women's soccer into a national power and a source of pride for our state. Coach came to Storrs in 1973 and has been a valued member of the university community ever since. He will be greatly missed.

Benedict said Margaret Rodriguez, the current associate coach and a former All-American, will serve as interim head coach while a national search for a new coach begins.

Tsantiris, who played for legendary UConn men's coach Joe Morrone, was a four-time Division I Northeast Coach of the Year (1983, '87, '95, '96), and won four conference Coach of the Year awards in the Big East (1995, '98) and American Athletic Conference (2015, '16). Under his guidance, 45 Huskies earned All-American accolades along with Sara Whalen winning 1997 NSCAA National Player of the Year.

During his 37 seasons, UConn won 10 conference regular-season titles, four conference tournament crowns and had 22 conference players of the year. He will receive a prestigious Gold Key Award from the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance next April.