Marco Koolman spent 12 seasons as the head men’s soccer coach at Holy Cross from 2012-2023. Koolman coached 24 All-Patriot League selections during his time on Mount St. James, while leading his squad to four Patriot League Tournament appearances. He owns a career record of 264-184-60 in 27 seasons as a collegiate head coach, with a career winning percentage of .579.
Koolman led the Crusaders to the Patriot League championship game in both 2013 and 2017, while coaching a number of outstanding players. Yuji Callahan and Evan Jones were both three-time All-Patriot League selections. In addition, Justin Carfora, Josh Cintas, Nick Hellmann-Rhodes, Max Krause and Monty Sanders were all named all-conference twice.
Holy Cross was also outstanding in the classroom under Koolman, totaling 155 Patriot League Academic Honor Roll selections. The Crusaders also placed 14 student-athletes on the College Sports Communicators’ Academic All-District team, while totaling eight Academic All-Patriot League honorees.
During the 2021 campaign, Koolman’s team finished in third place in the Patriot League with a 5-3-1 mark in conference play and qualified for the Patriot League Tournament. Holy Cross finished the season with an overall record of 8-8-3 and had three student-athletes named All-Patriot League, with Evan Jones taking home both Patriot League and ECAC Rookie of the Year honors.
In the spring of 2021, Koolman guided Holy Cross to a second-place finish in the Patriot League North Division and a trip to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. The Crusaders had four selections to the All-Patriot League teams, their most in a single season since 2013, while placing two players on the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.
In the 2017 season, Koolman led Holy Cross to an appearance in the championship game of the Patriot League Tournament. The Crusaders finished fifth in the Patriot League regular season standings, before knocking off Lehigh and Boston University in the postseason. Koolman’s squad posted seven shutouts on the year, including a stretch of 430 straight shutout minutes late in the season. Holy Cross also placed three players on the All-Patriot League teams, while Arno Rupp was selected as the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
During the 2013 campaign, Koolman’s squad went 9-9-2 overall and 6-3-0 in the conference, while advancing to the Patriot League championship game. The Crusaders’ nine overall wins were their most since 2008, while their six Patriot League victories tied for the most in program history. Holy Cross also had four players earn All-Patriot League honors.
Prior to his time at Holy Cross, Koolman served as the head coach and director of soccer at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, from July of 2011 to March of 2012. He was previously on the staff at Boston College for two years, during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Koolman helped the Eagles to an overall record of 10-5-5 and a trip the NCAA Tournament as associate head coach in 2010, while Boston College went 14-9-0 and made the third round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009 when he was an assistant coach.
From 2000-2008, Koolman spent nine seasons as the head coach at Franklin Pierce University, with the Ravens winning the NCAA Division II national championship in 2007. Franklin Pierce went 127-46-22 overall and 86-21-10 in the Northeast-10 Conference during Koolman’s tenure, making six consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament from 2003-2008. In addition to winning the national championship in 2007, the Ravens were the national runner-up in 2005 and advanced to the national quarterfinals in 2004.
Koolman also led his Franklin Pierce teams to three straight Northeast-10 regular season titles from 2005-2007, and the Northeast-10 tournament championship in 2006. He was named National Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2007, in addition to being honored as the NSCAA New England Coach of the Year three times (2004, 2006 and 2007).
Prior to his time at Franklin Pierce, Koolman was the head coach at Gannon University from 1991-1996. He led the Golden Knights to an overall record of 74-29-6 during his six-year tenure, with the team advancing to the NCAA Division II national semifinals in 1993. Koolman also earned NSCAA National Coach of the Year honors in 1993.
A native of the Netherlands, Koolman earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Gannon in 1991, then went on to receive a master’s degree in health services administration from Gannon in 2001. He was a four-year letterwinner for the Golden Knights from 1987-1990, and ranked fifth in NCAA Division II history at the time of his graduation with 44 career assists.
