University of Connecticut Men's Soccer

Former University of Connecticut men's soccer star Chris Gbandi enters his fourth season as the head coach of his alma mater. Gbandi won the 2000 Hermann Tro...

Eric Oates enters his third season in 2026 as the Director of Operations for the men's soccer team. Oates joined the UConn soccer staff in 2023 as the Direct...

James Doran is entering his 21st year with the University of Connecticut and has been elevated to Head Athletic Trainer with oversight of the Athletic Training staff and facilities. His primary sport responsibility is now with the men’s soccer team, managing the physical health and well-being of the student-athletes working in conjunction with the UConn Sports Medicine team. Doran received his National Athletic Trainers Association Board of Certification credential in 1998. He is a member of the NATA and the American College of Sports Medicine. Doran served as president of the CT Athletic Trainers’ Association (CATA) from 2013-16. He is currently serving as a member of the Alliance for Intercollegiate Sports Medicine (AISM) Executive Committee. He was inducted into the CATA Hall of Fame in the spring of 2021. Doran received his B.S. degree in Kinesiology from San Diego State University in 1998, completed an internship at the University of San Diego (1996-98) and received his M.S. degree in Exercise Science from the University of Wyoming in 2000. He was the Associate Athletic Trainer for the University of Wyoming and was primarily responsible for the Cowboys Men’s Basketball and Women’s Tennis teams from 2000 to 2005. Before being elevated to his current position, Doran spent 20 years as the Head Athletic Trainer for UConn Men’s Basketball. Along the way, Doran helped three elite staffs to four National Championships and five total trips to the Final Four. Most recently, the H

Jennifer Holowaty has served as an academic counselor/learning specialist in Student-Athlete Success Program (SASP) at UConn since 2017. Her primary responsibilities include working with the men's soccer and football teams and she is also charged with developing a series of workshops on academic skills based on the needs of each team here at UConn. Holowaty came to UConn from Western New England University, where she worked as an academic success specialist for three years. During her time at Western New England University, she worked with students on academic probation, taught a study skills class, and worked with the Life Skills Mentoring program for student-athletes. Prior to that, Holowaty worked at Eastern Connecticut State University as an academic advisor for one year where she taught developmental classes and English Composition at the community college level (as an adjunct instructor) for four years. Prior to her work in higher education, she taught high school English for ten years. Holowaty graduated from ECSU with a bachelor's degree in English and received her master's degree in Education from UMass.

Kamali Webson enters his third season as an assistant coach on head coach Chris Gbandi’s staff. He previously served as an assistant coach at Northeastern University in 2021. At Northeastern, Webson helped lead the Huskies to an 11-6-2 overall record during the 2021 season. The 11 wins marked the fifth-most victories in program history and the No. 2 seed earned by the team in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship was tied for a program best. Overall, the Huskies recorded 40 goals scored and a plus 13 goal differential in 2021, the second highest total in the CAA. Four Northeastern players finished in the top ten in the CAA for goals scored and three finished in the top ten for assists, including number one and two. Seven Huskies earned places on All-CAA teams following the season. Prior to Northeastern, Webson was the assistant coach at Needham High School with the Boys Varsity team from 2014-2020 where he helped lead the team to the 2018 D1 state final. During his time, Needham reached 5 state quarter finals and 2 state semi finals. He coached and developed 2 High school All-Americans, 4 all-region and 8 all-state player. Webson played college soccer at Roger Williams University and Hawaii Pacific University, where he was a 3x first team all-conference, a 2x first team all-new England player, and a 2012 Division III All-American. Webson currently holds his 11v11 and National diplomas through United States Coaches, and E, D, and Director of Coaching licenses from U.S

Robbie Montanaro joined the Huskies coaching staff in August of 2024. Montanaro spent this past year as the first assistant at Adrian College. Montanaro was previously the head coach at Boston University Academy where he led the Terriers to an 11-1 record and a league title in 2023. Before his time at Boston University Academy, he was a private goalkeeper coach for high school, college, and professional goalkeepers around the country. Montanaro graduated from Bates College where he started 47 games in net and made over 200 saves for the Bobcats. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Montanaro played abroad in Scotland, Puerto Rico, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. While playing pro, he got his master’s degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Stefan Defregger joined Chris Gbandi's staff in August in 2024. Defregger joins the Huskies program after spending this past year as an assistant coach at the University of New Hampshire. Prior to his time at UNH, Defregger served as an assistant coach at Northeastern University from 2018 to 2023. During his time at Northeastern, he served as the interim head coach twice, helping lead the Huskies to 18 All-Conference honors, five All-Region accolades, one Rookie of the Year and six student-athletes on to professional soccer careers. Defregger has also had coaching stints at Seacoast United MLS Next team as the head coach and at the University of Rochester where he was an assistant coach. While at Rochester, Defregger was a member of the 2017 University Athletic Association Coaching Staff of the Year as the team advanced to the Division III Elite 8 for the first time in program history. Defregger attended Dartmouth College where he helped the Big Green to Ivy League Championships in 2011 and 2014. He graduated from Dartmouth in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Economics and earned his Master of Science degree in Sports Leadership from Northeastern in 2022. He played pro in the USL with Wilmington (2015-16) and Rochester (2017).