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...

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).