In five years as men’s head soccer coach at York, Carmine Isacco has led the Lions to success not experienced by the program in decades. He is now the master coach of York’s soccer program, overseeing both the men’s and women’s teams.

The Lions have made three appearances at the CIS championships in his five years and have won two gold medals in 2008 and 2010. The first title was the program’s first in 31 years and the Lions are now one of the preeminent programs in the country. He also led the Lions to the OUA title in 2007 and silver medals in 2008 and 2010.

He is a two-time recipient of the OUA coach of the year award (2007, 2010), received York’s inaugural coach of the year award in 2010 and was also the CIS coach of the year in 2007.

Isacco joined the Lions after spending two seasons as the head coach with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, where he led the team to a pair of OUA silver medals and a CIS silver medal in 2005. His coaching career has also seem him claim a national championship with the Hearts-Azzurri S.C. in the under-18 division. In addition to his role as club head coach for Hearts-Azzurri, he also served as the club’s general manager, responsible for the administration of over 2000 young soccer players. As head coach of Toronto Supra in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL), Isacco was named coach of the year in 2002 in the Ontario Youth Soccer League.

As a player, Isacco took to the pitch at the University of Maryland, where he was named a freshman all-American and a three-time all-ACC first team member. In 1993 he participated in the World University Games.

After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree from Maryland, he turned professional and played four seasons with the Toronto Italia Soccer Club in the National Soccer League (NSL). In his first season with the club he was named goalkeeper of the year and he also received Canadian all-star status three times.

Following his stint in the NSL, Isacco was a player and assistant coach for the Milwaukee Rampage in the A-League. While with Milwaukee, he was named an all-league first-team all-star, playoff MVP and he captured a league title in 1997. He has also spent time with the Rochester Rhinos and Toronto Lynx as a player/assistant coach in the A-League. His indoor playing career in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) saw him claim a league title in 1998 with the Milwaukee Wave and he was named a league all-star while playing for the Edmonton Drillers. Other stops in the indoor NPSL include the Toronto Shooting Stars and Buffalo Blizzard.

Hieu Quach has been with the York Lions men’s soccer program for five seasons. He came to York along with head coach Carmine Isacco ahead of the 2007 season and previous to that worked as an assistant under Isacco for two years at the University of Toronto. He has played a big role in the success experienced by the Lions over the past two seasons, including the team’s national championships in 2008 and 2010.

Quach was a three-year starter at central midfield for the Varsity Blues, earning conference all-star selection in 1996 and academic all-Canadian honours in 1998. He graduated from the University of Toronto with an education degree after earning a bachelor of science from Dalhousie University.

Away from York, he is a science teacher at Westview Centennial S.S. and coaches the junior and senior boys’ and girls’ high school teams. He has won four TDSSAA North Region titles at Westview.

Patrice Gheisar is in his third season as an assistant coach with the Lions after spending the last two years as an assistant with Ryerson’s men’s soccer program. He graduated from York with a degree in sociology and spent five seasons playing for the varsity men’s soccer team. He is the head coach at the Vaughan Soccer Club, which won the under-18 Ontario Cup championship in 2010, and has also been an assistant with Portugal FC in the Canadian Soccer League.

Luca Forno joined the Lions coaching staff in 2010 after five seasons as a player on the team. He was a captain in 2008 when the Lions won the CIS championship and recently graduated with a degree in administrative studies. Prior to his return to the Lions this season, he was a member of the Vaughan Soccer Club coaching staff.

Kosta Poulos is in his third year as an assistant coach with the soccer team and focuses primarily on strength and conditioning for the student-athletes. A former York soccer player, he is completing his graduate work in kinesiology and health science and is also currently the strength and conditioning coach for Toronto SC of the Canadian Soccer League.

Pennant joined the Lions coaching staff as the goalkeeper coach in 2010, coming to York from Ryerson University where he served in the same role for both the men’s and women’s programs for two years. He has a wealth of experience coaching with the Ontario provincial program and the Jamaican national team. He is a provincial B licensed coach who also holds both an NACAA goalkeeping diploma and the Ontario Soccer Association goalkeeping certificate.