AMHERST — A former head women’s soccer coach’s age discrimination case against the University of Massachusetts can proceed to trial, the Massachusetts Appeals Court said Thursday.

The decision reversed an October 2022 ruling by Hampshire Superior Court Judge Richard Carey that dismissed Edward Matz’s lawsuit and granted summary judgment in favor of UMass.

Matz filed suit in 2018, claiming that UMass had fired him at the age of 51 in 2017 because of his age.

The university said Matz’s contract was not renewed because of poor performance. He was 59-72-21 overall and 30-38-12 in the Atlantic 10 since his 2010 hiring. In eight seasons he had just one winning campaign (2011) and no NCAA Tournament appearances.

In 2016, the women’s soccer team had three wins the entire season, the lowest win total in program history, according to Carey’s decision.

UMass also cited dissatisfaction among players and parents, detailed in meetings, in letters to athletic director Ryan Bamford in 2016, and in 2017 surveys.

Carey ruled that Matz had failed to provide evidence that UMass’ stated reasons for terminating his employment were a pretext for discriminating against him because of his age.

However, the three-judge panel of the Appeals Court disagreed, ruling that Matz had, in fact, produced evidence that UMass’ reasons were pretextual.

The court determined that Matz had shown “by a preponderance of the evidence that he was performing his job at an acceptable level,” citing “numerous positive evaluations” in the case file.

“There is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that UMass terminated Matz because of his age,” the court declared, sending the case back to Hampshire Superior Court.

Matz’s lawsuit seeks punitive and compensatory damages, including for emotional distress. A resident of Longmeadow, he has been head coach of the men’s soccer team at Division II Assumption University in Worcester since 2021.