Davidson College Men's Soccer

Mike Babst enters his sixth season as the head coach of the Davidson men's soccer program in 2024. During the 2023 season, Babst led the Wildcats to the program's first-ever Atlantic 10 postseason win with a 2-1 victory over Duquesne. He also led the program to its most regular season wins since 2018 and secured double-digit wins for the first time since 2014. Babst coached the dynamic striking duo of Vincent Bennage and Denis Krioutchenkov to All-Region and All-Conference honors. Babst also had the 'Cats within the top-25 when the team was ranked No. 24 by TopDrawerSoccer.com on October 17. In 2022, Davidson's youth showed early, but the 'Cats concluded the regular season 6-4-3 over their last 13 contests highlighted by a 3-1 win over Virginia Tech and consecutive league win's to close out the campaign, including 2-0 at Rhode Island.

Carson Griffith joined the Davidson Men's Soccer staff as the assistant coach in June of 2025. Griffith joins Davidson from Presbyterian College after graduating in May of 2025. He played Division I soccer at Presbyterian and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. While at Presbyterian, he was a two-year captain and started and played in more than 50 matches for the Blue Hose. He scored eight goals and tallied five assists as a defensive midfielder. In 2023 and 2024, Griffith was named to the Big South All-Conference first team, and earned All-Academic team honors in those years as well. He was named to the Big South All-Conference second team and All-Tournament team in 2022. Griffith is a native of Gastonia, N.C.

Jamie Lutz joined Davidson as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in October of 2019. He works directly with baseball, women’s soccer, wrestling, me...

Jesse DiLuzio enters his fifth season on Mike Babst's staff at Davidson College in 2025, including his second as Associate Head Coach. During his time with the Wildcats, he has helped guide the program through the most successful multi-year stretch in the modern era, highlighted by consistent postseason appearances, player development milestones, and three consecutive top-third national RPI finishes. In 2025, Davidson finished 9-7-3 against another challenging schedule, earning a #52 RPI — the highest finish in program history since the adoption of the RPI ranking system. The Wildcats hosted an Atlantic 10 Tournament match for the third time in four seasons, becoming one of only three programs in the league to do so during that span. Davidson advanced to the A-10 semifinals before falling to eventual Final Four participant Saint Louis.

Max Lichtenstein is an assistant coach with the Davidson College men's soccer program, having joined the Wildcats' staff in June 2023. In his role, Lichtenstein works extensively with the goalkeepers and the back line, while also playing an active role in recruiting and player evaluation. Since his arrival in 2023, Davidson has advanced to two Atlantic 10 Conference semifinal appearances. Lichtenstein came to Davidson from Tufts University, where he served as an assistant coach from 2020 through 2022. During the 2022 campaign, Tufts posted an 8-3-7 record and earned a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Under Lichtenstein's direction, goalkeeper Eric Lauta finished the season ranked among the top 25 in Division III in both goals-against average and shutouts. In 2021, the Jumbos enjoyed a standout season, compiling a 15-2-4 overall record, capturing the NESCAC Championship, and advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.