Hood College hires new men’s soccer coach

By Aden Sievert

A men’s soccer coach has been named to replace Kyle Bulgarelli who left before the 2023 season.

The coach, Geoff Moore, was hired during winter break and has over a decade of coaching experience.

Moore was previously head coach at SUNY Morrisville. Before then, he was an assistant coach for 10 years at SUNY Oneonta and was head coach of SUNY Delhi from 2005-2008.

While he was coaching at Oneonta, Moore helped lead the team to five conference championships and made three NCAA final-four showings.

 “I enjoy working with young people, It’s fun… Obviously, competition, you get to compete as a player, and then to get to do that regularly as a job is awesome,” Moore said. “It’s the competition, and the chance to teach young people not just the sport but stuff about life… It’s an amazing thing.”

Early in his career, Moore was named Mountain Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2006 and again in 2007. Additionally, he was named National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2014.

“My philosophy is to leave a program better than we found it, step one is can we do little things within the program, within the community, that will make it better than we found it,” Moore said.

Bulgarelli was let go just one week before the start of the season. The men’s soccer team went 3-15-1 during the 2023 season and had a record of 1-5-1 in conference play.

Susan Kolb, Hood’s athletic director, was a key part in the hiring process of Moore.

“Soccer is one of the few sports that offers licenses for coaches,” Kolb said. “He had several licenses that put him in the top tier of candidates.”

She said Hood received more than 100 applications during the search for a new head coach. The athletic department considered the applicants’ years of coaching experience, the licenses they held and the type of success they had as either a head or assistant coach.

“He (Moore) was green across the board,” Kolb said.

Moore will make his head coaching debut this fall during the 2024-25 academic year.