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Carlos Somoano
Carlos Somoano, who ranks sixth in the nation and first in the ACC in winning percentage among active Division I head coaches, enters his 12th year at the helm of the North Carolina men’s soccer program in 2022.
Somoano reached the summit of collegiate soccer when he led the Tar Heels to the 2011 NCAA title, becoming just the second rookie head coach in NCAA history to win a national championship. He returned to the College Cup with his Tar Heel squad in 2016, 2017 and 2020.
In 2020, he led Carolina on an improbable run to its fourth College Cup under his tutelage. Entering the NCAA Tournament unseeded, UNC advanced past Charlotte on penalty kicks in the first round, then upset fourth-seeded Stanford and fifth-seeded Wake Forest to reach the national semifinal. Carolina lost, 1-0, in the semis to eventual NCAA champion Marshall and finished the year with a 9-5-4 record.
Somoano has guided 11 of his 12 squads to NCAA postseason play and six of those teams have reached at least the NCAA quarterfinals. He owns an impressive 156-55-37 career record, good for a program-best .704 winning percentage.
Coaching History
Somoano was named the 2011 National Coach of the Year by Soccer America as the Tar Heels posted a 21-2-3 mark en route to the national title. The Tar Heels became only the second team in Atlantic Coast Conference history to claim the treble in a single year by winning the ACC regular season title, the ACC Championship crown and the national championship in 2011.
In addition to his national coach-of-the-year honors, ACC coaches also pegged Somoano the top head man in the league in 2011. Somoano joined former Carolina men’s coach and current Carolina women’s coach, Anson Dorrance, as the second coach to be named the ACC Coach of the Year in their first year at the helm.
Several Tar Heels earned national recognition in 2011 under Somoano’s watch with Matt Hedges, Enzo Martinez and Billy Schuler earning All-America honors. Another Tar Heel, Ben Speas, was also named the National Player of the Year by Soccer America.
Five Tar Heels earned All-ACC honors in 2011 with Scott Goodwin, Hedges, Martinez and Schuler being named first team and Kirk Urso joining the second team. Mikey Lopez, Jordan McCrary and Boyd Okwuonu were named to the ACC All-Freshman Team, while Hedges and Lopez were Defender and Freshman of the Year, respectively. Goodwin, Rob Lovejoy and Urso also earned ACC All-Academic Team honors in 2011.
It was going to be a tough act to follow in his second season, but the Heels did well in recording a 16-4-3 mark and came within one match of a fifth-straight College Cup berth in 2012. UNC ultimately fell, 1-0, to eventual national champion Indiana in the NCAA quarterfinal.
Similar to previous seasons, UNC was honored with a handful of national awards in 2012 with Danny Garcia, Scott Goodwin, Mikey Lopez and Boyd Okwuonu all receiving All-America honors. Additionally, Jonathan Campbell and Garcia, the ACC Freshman of the Year, earned Freshman All-America plaudits.
Six Tar Heels earned All-ACC awards during the 2012 campaign. Danny Garcia joined Mikey Lopez as the first Tar Heel duo to be named ACC Freshman of the Year in back-to-back seasons since 1993 and 1994. Additionally, Lopez and Boyd Okwuonu were the only underclassmen in the league to be recognized on the All-ACC First Team.
Academically, Scott Goodwin was the winner of the Capital One Academic All-America of the Year award for Division I men’s soccer. He also headlined the All-ACC Academic Team, earning the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
The 2013 Tar Heels featured one of the top defensive sides in the nation, led by ACC Defender of the Year Boyd Okwuonu, who also earned All-America honors for the second-consecutive season. Carolina advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship, finishing with a 9-6-5 record.
Owkuonu led a group of five players that earned All-ACC accolades as he was tabbed First Team All-ACC. Jonathan Campbell and Brendan Moore secured second team citations, while Jordan McCrary was a third team pick and Omar Holness landed on the All-Freshman squad. Holness also secured a slot on Soccer America’s All-Freshman Team.
The Tar Heels turned 2014 into another stellar campaign by posting a 15-5-2 overall mark and again reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals for the sixth time in seven seasons. UNC was a prolific scoring team, leading the country in goals (52) and total points (157) and was second with 53 assists. Andy Craven, a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, led the scoring corp with an NCAA-best 35 points and 15 goals.
Andy Craven and Boyd Okwuonu both earned First Team All-America honors in 2014, while Jonathan Campbell was an Academic All-America First Team selection. Carolina also led the way in the ACC with eight players selected for all-league honors, including three first team honorees in Craven, Holness and Okwuonu.
The Tar Heels opened the 2015 campaign unbeaten in its first 12 matches, and in the process set a program record with a 16-game unbeaten streak dating back to the end of the 2014 season. Carolina finished first in the ACC Coastal Division, earned the No. 5 national seed in the NCAA Championship, reached the third round for the seventh time in the last eight years, and finished the season with a stellar 15-2-3 record.
Team captain Jonathan Campbell became the first player in program history to earn both First Team NSCAA All-America and First Team Academic All-America honors. Additionally, Campbell was the ACC’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year and led a trio of Tar Heels on the ACC Academic Team.
After knocking on the door of the College Cup for several years, UNC broke through for the program’s seventh trip overall, and second under Somoano, in 2016. Carolina won the ACC’s Coastal Division, earned the top seed in the ACC Championship and received the No. 10 national seed in the NCAA Championship.
A thrilling overtime winner over Providence in the NCAA quarterfinals set up a heavyweight bout between the Tar Heels and defending champion Stanford. The match was played to a scoreless draw; However, the Cardinal advanced, 10-9 in penalties, and ultimately won a second-straight national championship in Houston, Texas.
Cam Lindley, regarded as the top newcomer in college men’s soccer, was named the TopDrawer Soccer National Freshman of the Year and ACC Freshman of the Year in 2016. He also earned First Team All-ACC honors, leading a group of seven players named all-conference.
Excelling in the classroom just as they did on the pitch, Alex Comsia earned the prestigious NCAA Elite 90 Award, an honor that goes to the College Cup participant with the highest GPA. Additionally, David October was a First Team Academic All-America in 2016.
Somoano helped guide the Tar Heels back to the College Cup in 2017 for consecutive appearances after winning the ACC Coastal Division for the third straight year. Cam Lindley was named ACC Midfielder of the Year while also being named All-America alongside Alan Winn.
2018 was another stellar year for Carolina, which compiled an impressive 14-4-1 record. UNC advanced to its eighth ACC Championship title game in program history, eventually falling to Louisville, 1-0. The Heels earned the No. 5 seed for the NCAA Tournament but dropped a 2-1 decision to James Madison in the second round after a first-round bye.
Highlighted by Alex Comsia being tabbed the league’s Defender of the Year, six Tar Heels landed on All-ACC teams in 2018. UNC led all schools with four players named to the All-ACC First Team, with Nils Bruening, James Pyle and Mauricio Pineda joining Comsia on the list. Those four Tar Heels tied the school record with the 2011 national champion squad for most players selected to the first team in program history. Comsia was also named a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, while he and Pineda were First Team All-American and Second Team All-American, respectively.
Mauricio Pineda was once again named All-ACC First Team in 2019, with Jeremy Kelly and Jack Skahan landing on the All-ACC Second Team. The Tar Heels went 7-7-4 that year, with the season ending after a penalty-kick heartbreaker in the first round of the ACC Championship.
The season being split into Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 because of COVID-19 didn’t deter the Tar Heels. UNC made its fourth NCAA College Cup appearance under Somoano and ninth in program history after besting Charlotte, Stanford and Wake Forest. UNC fell, 1-0, in the semifinals to eventual champion Marshall and finished the year with a -5-4 mark.
After earning an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, UNC finished the year at No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Alec Smir and Giovanni Montesdeoca both earned All-ACC Second Team accolades, with the latter also picking up All-America Third Team honors. Additionally, Victor Olofsson and Tim Schels were tabbed to the All-ACC Academic Team.
UNC produced an overall mark of 11-7-2 in 2021, capped off by earning its 28th bid to the NCAA Tournament in program history with an at-large bid. The Heels defeated Loyola Maryland in penalty kicks to advance to the second round before falling to New Hampshire. Prior to its NCAA run, UNC made it to the ACC Championship quarterfinal where they dropped to eventual national champion Clemson.
An impressive five Tar Heels secured a spot on 2021 All-ACC teams. After leading the ACC with 10 shutouts, goalkeeper Alec Smir was on the First Team with Joe Pickering and Filippo Zattarin on the Third Team. Ken Bellini and Teka Ikoba were also named to the ACC All-Freshman Team.
Before his success as UNC’s head coach, Somoano helped recruit six top-10 recruiting classes and was part of one of the most successful periods in Carolina school history as an assistant coach for nine seasons from 2002-10. The Tar Heels advanced to three consecutive NCAA College Cups, including the 2008 National Championship game, and amassed a 118-52-27 record with Somoano on staff. College Soccer News named Somoano a Top 20 Assistant Coach six times in his career as well as the NSCAA South Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010.
Somoano also played a key part in developing Tar Heels into professional soccer players. Since his arrival in Chapel Hill in 2003, 40 former players have been selected in the MLS SuperDraft. Included in that group are 15 first-round draftees: David Stokes, Dax McCarty, Michael Harrington, Zach Loyd, Jalil Anibaba, Eddie Ababio, Matt Hedges, Enzo Martinez, Mikey Lopez, Jonathan Campbell, Omar Holness, Jordan McCrary, Colton Storm, John Nelson and most recently Jeremy Kelly in 2020.
Four former Tar Heels who played under Somoano have represented the United States Men’s National Team, as Matt Hedges, Zach Loyd, Dax McCarty and Logan Pause have all been called upon to represent their country.
In addition to his work at UNC, Somoano has coached 16-to-18-year old boys with Raleigh’s Capital Area Soccer League since 2002. He has guided three different teams to a total of five-straight state titles and three Disney Soccer Showcase championships. Somoano also served as the United States Youth Soccer Region III Staff Coach in 2004, 2006 and 2007 and was responsible for selecting and coaching ODP state team players. He also served in a similar position in Region I from 1999-2002.
Additionally, Somoano serves as a scout for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. In 2009, Somoano was the head coach for the U-16 CASL Chelsea Academy, where he led his team to the National Championship week. That year, he was named the US Soccer U-15/16 Development Academy Southern Conference and National Coach of the Year.
Somoano arrived in Chapel Hill from VCU where he was an assistant coach for six seasons from 1996-2001. Prior to his stint in Richmond, Virginia, he was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Eckerd College, from 1992-95.
Personal
A native of Seabrook, Texas, Somoano received a bachelor of science in biology with a concentration in pre-medicine from Eckerd College in 1992. He then earned a master’s of sport management from the University of Richmond in August 2000.
A standout midfielder for the Tritons, Somoano earned four letters in soccer at Eckerd and was a two-year team captain. He helped pilot the team that climbed as high as No. 16 in the country and was an All-Sunshine State Conference selection and an NSCAA All-South Region performer.
In 2013, he was inducted into the Eckerd College Athletics Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame in 2018.
He is married to the former Martina Nedelkova and the couple has two daughters and a son: Sofia, born May 6, 2006; Gabriela, born Dec. 24, 2007; and Alexander, born April 24, 2011.
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