The Maritime College Athletic Department is happy to announce Melissa Guglielmo as the new head coach of the women's soccer program. Prior to joining the Privateers, Guglielmo played four years of Division II soccer at Dowling College, and then was an assistant coach at NYIT.

"I would like to thank Coach Berkun and the rest of the search committee for giving me the opportunity to coach the women's soccer team at Maritime College," said Guglielmo. "Maritime is an incredible institution with great potential on and off the field. I can't wait to start working with the student-athletes here and help take this program to the next level."

As a student-athlete at Dowling, Guglielmo excelled at the goalkepper position for all four years. During her rookie campaign, she was second in the conference in goals against average with 18 games played and second in shutouts with seven. That dominance continued into her second season, where she only allowed 12 goals in 18 games played and led the conference in goals against average. She posted a 10-3-2 record in that season and helped Dowling secure a place in the East Coast Conference playoffs. In both her freshman and sophomore seasons, Dowling won the conference tournament and in 2012 she was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. Her improvement continued into the 2013 season as her goals against average dipped to 0.59 with just 10 goals allowed in 17 games played. Guglielmo recorded a 12-3-2 record. Her hard work culminated in her senior season with the ECC Goalkeeper of the year award with an 11-3-2 record and 57 saves.

Following a short break from soccer after her playing career, she jumped back into coaching at the Long Island Professional Soccer club, Saint Anthony's High School, and eventually the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT). As an assistant coach at NYIT she worked on all aspects of the soccer program including recruiting, fundraising, practice planning and coaching. In 2019, she helped coach the team to their first ever appearance in the conference championship game.

"We are extremely excited to bring in Melissa to lead the women's soccer program," said Interim Director of Athletics Mike Berkun. "We are enthusiastic about the passion and energy she will bring to the team and are confident that she will have a positive impact on our student-athletes and and the entire Privateer program."

Guglielmo will take over a roster filled with a strong core of returners as well as a talented incoming class. The Privateers will head to St. Elizabeth's for the first game of the season on Sep. 8.