In his first season as coach, Carmine Isacco’s goal is to win the national championship. With an undefeated 5-0-2 record and sporting the third best team in the country behind McGill-a team the Blues defeated 2-1 earlier this month-and UBC, the men’s soccer team is right on target.
“U of T has always had a long history of winning,” Isacco said. “The talent is there. My job is to teach the technical aspects of the game, to build the program into a proper development tool that will continue that history.”
The former head coach and general manager of the Hearts-Toronto C.S. Azzurri Soccer Club, Isacco believes in developing a system that mimics the international style of the game.
“Looking at the better teams in the world, they do it with ball movement,” Isacco said. “It’s not run, run, run, and then score on opportunistic chances. They do it by developing from the back, being patient and letting the game come to them. You expose the defence when they are shifting, and when that opportunity comes, you penetrate.”
This season the Blues have out-scored their opponents 16-4 and already have four shutouts in the books.
The defensive prowess displayed by the team is aided by Isacco’s previous experience as a goalkeeper. At Maryland, Isacco was an all-American at the position, was named to the All-ACC first team three times, and became the Terrapins team captain in his senior year, 1992.
He later would play with the Canadian Olympic Team and compete at the 2003 World University Games. Finally, Isacco was recently honoured as the Ontario Youth Soccer Coach of the Year after his Hearts-Azzurri squad won a national championship in the under-18 division.
Isacco’s knowledge of, and involvement with, the area’s talent gives him an edge in scouting potential players, according to assistant coach Hieu Quach.
“What he looks for in players is athleticism, but also decision-making; whether a player can consistently make the right decision at the right time,” Quach said. “He trains his team very hard. He demands a lot. He’s a perfectionist, really. You can’t go through the motions with him. He’s done it all as a player, and this team respects his history in the sport. All the technical and tactical, he’s been through it all.”
Joe Reaney, a tri-captain with George Davis and Sean Myers, agrees with Quach: “He expects a lot from a player,” he said. “The way we train in practice, it’s a simulated game. The intensity level is right there.”
While he calls Isacco “nice and funny,” Reaney also knows his coach for how seriously he takes the sport: “What we take from him, we use in the game. His philosophy is that he’ll give us the tools, but it’s up to us to use them and carry them over to the match.”
The Blues are currently in second place in the OUA North division with 11 points. York is currently in first with 13 points.
The Blues host McMaster this Saturday and Brock Sunday. Both games are at 3 p.m.
