Carmine Isacco is the master coach of York’s soccer program, overseeing both the men’s and women’s teams, and he has built the program into one of the best in U SPORTS.. 2024 marks his 18th season with the men's team, and his 14th with the women's side.
2025 marks his 19th season with the men's team, and his 15th with the women's side. In 2024, he led both teams to playoff berths. The men’s team finishing 8-1-3 on the season, and winning its 17th straight division title on route to an OUA silver medal. They then went onto win a national bronze medal with a 3-1 victory over McGill, earning them their first piece of U SPORTS hardware since winning gold on home turf in 2015. The women’s team went 5-3-4 in 2024 and finished 4th in the OUA West division. They beat Windsor in the opening round of the playoffs before stunning previously-undefeated Western in the quarterfinals. They then fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Nipissing Lakers in the semis, conceding a 90th-minute go-ahead goal.
The Lions men’s team has made 12 appearances at the national championships with him at the helm and has won four national banners (2008, 2010, 2014-15). They are also six-time OUA champions under his guidance (2007, 2013-15, 2017-18) and have won provincial medals in 12 of the 13 years he has led the program. The Lions have finished first in the OUA West Division in each of his 13 seasons and have earned the No. 1 spot in the weekly U SPORTS rankings at least once in each year since he took over.
In 2015, he guided the women’s soccer team to an undefeated regular season (15-0-1) and the team was ranked as high as No. 2 in the U SPORTS rankings, and in 2019 he led the women’s squad to the OUA championship, its first in 10 years. The women's squad qualified for the 2022 OUA championship and, thus, the U SPORTS championships, for the first time since that 2019 OUA gold medal. He was nominated for the 2022 Lions coach of the year award for his efforts with the women's squad.
Isacco is a seven-time recipient of the OUA men’s coach of the year award, (2007, 2010, 2012-14, 2016, 2022), and has won two OUA women’s coach of the year awards (2015, 2019). He is also a two-time U SPORTS coach of the year (2007, 2014) and a three-time York coach of the year (2010, 2015-16).
In 2015 he served as a guest coach with the Canadian senior men’s team for a pair of friendlies in advance of World Cup qualifying, and he was an assistant coach with the U22 team at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
He joined the Lions after spending two seasons as the head coach of the men’s team at the University of Toronto, where he led the Varsity Blues to a pair of OUA silver medals and a CIS silver medal in 2005. His coaching career has also seen him claim a national championship with the Hearts-Azzurri S.C. in the U18 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.
| Year |
Team |
Overall |
Regular Season |
Playoffs |
OUA Finish |
U SPORTS Finish |
| 2005 |
Toronto |
11-3-2 |
7-1-2 |
4-2 |
Silver |
Silver |
| 2006 |
Toronto |
11-6-3 |
8-3-3 |
3-3 |
Silver |
7th |
| 2007 |
York |
15-3-2 |
11-1-2 |
4-2 |
Gold |
4th |
| 2008 |
York |
14-5-1 |
9-4-1 |
5-1 |
Silver |
Gold |
| 2009 |
York |
9-3-3 |
9-2-3 |
0-1 |
QF |
--- |
| 2010 |
York |
17-3-2 |
12-2-2 |
5-1 |
Silver |
Gold |
| 2011 |
York |
14-2-3 |
12-1-3 |
2-1 |
Bronze |
--- |
| 2012 |
York |
16-1-2 |
14-0-2 |
2-1 |
Bronze |
--- |
| 2013 |
York |
17-4-1 |
13-2-1 |
4-2 |
Gold |
4th |
| 2014 |
York |
20-0-2 |
14-0-2 |
6-0 |
Gold |
Gold |
| 2015 |
York |
19-1-2 |
13-1-2 |
6-0 |
Gold |
Gold |
| 2016 |
York |
17-3-2 |
14-0-2 |
3-3 |
Silver |
6th |
| 2017 |
York |
18-3-1 |
13-2-1 |
5-1 |
Gold |
5th |
| 2018 |
York |
17-3-3 |
13-0-3 |
4-2 |
Gold |
6th |
| 2019 |
York |
15-2-3 |
11-0-3 |
4-2 |
Silver |
5th |
| 2020 |
York |
No season due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 |
York |
10-1-1 |
8-1-1 |
2-1 |
Silver |
-- |
| 2022 |
York |
10-1-2 |
10-0-2 |
0-1 |
QF |
-- |
| 2023 |
York |
11-4-3 |
7-2-1 |
4-2 |
Silver |
5th |
| 2024 |
York |
12-5-1 |
8-1-3 |
4-2 |
Silver |
Bronze |
| Total |
|
273-51-39 |
206-23-39 |
67-27 |
6 titles |
4 titles |
