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Brooke Barbuto
Brooke Barbuto enters her sixth season as the head coach of the Utica University women’s soccer program in 2024. She was hired by Athletic Director Dave Fontaine in the Summer of 2019.
The Syracuse, NY native has continued the program’s positive momentum from recent years in her five seasons on the job. Barbuto has led the Pioneers to three Empire 8 Championship game appearances and the team has reached the postseason in all five years of her tenure. That includes the program’s first Empire 8 tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2019. She has piloted the squad to a record of 37-30-14 over a five season span. She has coached her players to a total of twenty-one All-Conference nods.
The 2023 Fall season ended with a 7-5-5 record and a conference record of 3-1-4. Continuing their successful streak under Barbuto, the Pioneers clinched another playoff spot in the Empire 8 tournament. With a total of six, the Team finished our decorated with all-conference selections. Rylee Lamheree, Gabriella Daumont, and Jenna Keeman all made first team selections, while Julianna Beaulieu, Kaela Mochak, and Cora Kraft all made the second team.
The 2022 Fall season ended with an 8-8-4 record that showed the potential of the younger Pioneers under Barbuto. With a 4-2-3 conference record, the Pioneers claimed a playoff spot in the Empire 8 tournament and ultimately made it to the Empire 8 championship. Under Barbuto, three Pioneers earned All-Conference selections, with seniors Jenna Keeman and Ro Hernandez securing second team honors.
The Fall of 2021 ended with an 8-8-1 record for a much younger Pioneers team than in previous seasons under Barbuto. A 4-3-1 conference record was good enough for the Pioneers to take hold of an Empire 8 playoff spot. Four Pioneers earned All-Conference accolades, with Senior Ro Hernandez securing first team honors.
The would-be 2020 season was shifted into the Spring of 2021, and while the Pioneers finished with an overall record of 2-3-3 in a shortened campaign, Coach Barbuto had the Pioneers playing their best when it mattered most. Stout defense, timely goals, and clutch penalty kick performances were the key ingredients in a four-match unbeaten streak that carried the Pioneers to the E8 tournament final, where they would ultimately drop a one-goal decision in extra time to finish as the runner-up. Senior captain Kierra Caissey was named to the Empire 8 Conference Sportswoman of the Year team, and made the E8’s All-Conference release four years in a row.
Barbuto’s first season was one for the ages. The 2019 edition of the Pioneers finished with a record of 12-6-1, culminating in the program’s first Empire 8 tournament title and an NCAA tournament appearance against William Smith College in Geneva, NY. Utica won both of its E8 tournament games by 1-0 scores, including their decisive finals victory against host Hartwick College. Four members of the squad were named to the Empire 8’s All-Conference teams. Barbuto coached star striker Mikayla Blumenstock to First Team All-ECAC, United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-Region, Empire 8 First Team, and Empire 8 Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors. Along the way, she set new records for goals and points in a single season at UC. Caissey joined Blumenstock on the E8 first team, while Amanda Thut and Emma Workman were picked up for the E8 honorable mention team. Additionally, goalkeeper Allison Wagner broke the program's single-season and career records for shutouts, and set a new school mark for career saves during the campaign.
Barbuto came to Utica after a stint as an assistant at SUNY Cortland. In the 2018 season at Cortland, she coached six All-Conference honorees and one All-Region honoree en route to the SUNYAC conference tournament final.
She also served two seasons as head women’s soccer coach in the NJCAA Division III program at Bryant and Stratton College in Syracuse. Beyond her collegiate coaching experience, she has also served for many years as a coach with the Syracuse Development Academy and the CNY Family Sports Center.
Barbuto also maintains an active playing career, most recently in the regional semi-pro ranks with the Syracuse Development Academy, Rochester Lancers, and Krajisnik FC women’s teams. She has an extensive professional playing resume that began in 2009 with the Buffalo (WNY) Flash. The Flash played in what was widely regarded as the second highest level of women's soccer in the United States.
In 2011 she began a successful seven year stretch of playing professional soccer overseas. In 2011 she led Haukar (Reykavik, Iceland) in scoring in the highly competitive Dield Division I league. She then spent two seasons in Kokkola, Finland where she earned a promotion from Ykkonen (Division I) to Naisten Liiga, was a one year captain, and the 2013 MVP.
From 2014-2016 she played for NiceFutis (Pori, Finland) in the country's highest professional soccer league. She was a two year captain, league MVP and was nominated for top athlete in Pori. Her professional career came to a close in 2017 as she guided the Peninsula Power (Brisbane, Australia) to a National Premier League Queensland Championship. She led the team and the NPL in goals scored.
A four-year starter at Division I Stony Brook University, she finished her college career with 17 goals and nine assists. While at Stony Brook she was selected to the All-Academic team, America East All-Rookie Team, All-America East First Team, NSCAA All-Northeast Region First Team, Soccer Buzz Magazine's All-Northeast Region Second Team, and America East Tournament All-Championship team. She served as team captain and was selected Most Valuable Player in her senior year.
Barbuto was a five-year letter winner at Corcoran High School in Syracuse, N.Y. She was a member of the National Honor Society, and was selected to First Team All-League, County, and State. She was named team MVP in her junior and senior campaigns, and was a five-time scholar athlete, a Who's Who among American High School Students selection, and tabbed as a United States Achievement Academy All-American Scholar.
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