Michael Marchiano named Maryland head coach, removing interim label

COLLEGE PARK, MD – University of Maryland alum and two-time National Champion, Michael Marchiano ’09 has been named the new head coach of the Maryland women’s soccer program by Damon Evans, the Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics.

Marchiano has served as the team’s interim head coach since mid-October after returning to his alma mater in Nov. 2023 as an assistant coach with the women’s program. Marchiano was a midfielder for the Terrapins men’s soccer team from 2005-08 and was a member of both the 2005 and 2008 national championship teams. He was a two-time team captain.

“Maryland soccer is in Mike’s blood and we are thrilled to have him leading our women’s soccer program,” said Evans. “Mike has tremendous passion for his alma mater and has a winning pedigree, winning multiple national championships as a player for our men’s program. We are excited to have Mike, his wife Kelley – as a former Terp star for our track and field program – and their children Mila and Nico, as a part of our One Maryland family.”

“It is a tremendous honor to be named the head coach of the Maryland women’s soccer program,” said Marchiano. “Thank you to President Pines, Damon Evans, and Shawn Flynn for their faith in me as I receive this unbelievable opportunity. The connection I have with this university runs deep and I am super excited to lead our women’s program. Being a student-athlete at Maryland was one of the best experiences of my life and I’ll do all I can to assist in creating a similar pathway for our players. There is a lot of work to do to achieve our goals of winning consistently at the highest levels. I can not wait to get started with the staff and the players”.

Marchiano previously served as the head coach of the Drexel Dragons men’s soccer team from 2020-22. In his first season as head coach, Marchiano guided the Dragons to a 6-3-2 record and their first conference tournament appearance in seven seasons. In his second season as head coach, Marchiano guided the Dragons to their second consecutive CAA tournament appearance, the first time the program had two consecutive postseason appearances since the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Marchiano helped lead Chris Donovan to become the program’s second CAA Player of the Year in 2021, in addition to five All-CAA selections and an All-Region performer. Donovan was selected by the Columbus Crew in the MLS SuperDraft, becoming only the second player in program history to be drafted to the MLS.

Before becoming the head coach at Drexel, Marchiano spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Loyola University in Maryland for six seasons under head coach Steve Nichols. While at Loyola (MD), Marchiano was responsible for the day-to-day operations of training, scouting, and recruiting. Over his final four seasons with the Greyhounds, Marchiano helped lead the team to a 27-6-3 record in Patriot League matches. Loyola won or shared three straight regular-season titles from 2017-2019. During that historic stretch, the Greyhounds lost just five league matches over the course of three seasons. The team posted the biggest turnaround in Patriot League history, going from last place in 2015 (0-8-1) to second place in 2016 (6-1-2). In 2018 while an assistant at Loyola (MD), Marchiano was named one of the top assistant coaches in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.

The Greyhounds had a 41-23-7 record over Marchiano’s last four seasons after compiling a 7-21-6 mark in his first two years. Loyola had won 10 or more matches in each of the last three seasons, the first time that has happened at the school since 2009, when the Greyhounds were a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Marchiano was also an integral part of the Loyola (MD) recruiting efforts. College Soccer News rated Loyola’s 2020 class as the 13th-best recruiting class in the nation. It was the first time a Loyola recruiting class was ever ranked by the publication.

Over Marchiano’s final four seasons, 32 players have earned All-Patriot League honors, including 15 first team selections and 12 second team picks. The Greyhounds have had the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year and the Midfielder of the Year on three occasions each and have had three of the last four Patriot League Rookies of the Year. He assisted in the development of multiple All-Americans, a Scholar All-American and had two players selected in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.

Marchiano was an assistant coach for two seasons at Army West Point. In those seasons, Marchiano helped the Black Knights go from a 4-10-3 record in 2012 to a 12-3-3 mark and a second-place finish in 2013, their best season since 1996. Marchiano also spent two seasons as an assistant at Maryland. During those two seasons in College Park, the Terrapins compiled a 34-9-3 and made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Quarterfinals.