When Scott Palguta was promoted to head coach of the men’s soccer team in 2015, the Colorado College Athletics Department knew he was the person who best understood what it would take to build upon the program's cornerstones of athletic and academic excellence.
Palguta enters his 11th season at the helm of the Tigers after leading CC to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 2002. In 2024, CC concluded the season with a 16-3-3 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the SCAC regular-season title and climbing as high as No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, it's highest mark ever.
Palguta, along with assistant coaches Sean Elvert and Tomas Martinez, were named the SCAC Coaching Staff of the Year for the second consecutive year, as CC had 12 All-SCAC selections, the most of any team. CC also had two players named United Soccer Coaches All-Americans in Curtis Hale (Fourth Team) and Alex Wolter (Second Team).
In 2023, Palguta etched his name as the second-winningest coach in program history, having surpassed 100 career wins in 2023. CC ended the 2023 season with an impressive 15-3-3 record and an appearance in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992.
Palguta has a 123-41-24 record as the CC head coach.
During his two seasons as an assistant coach with the Tigers, the two-time all-Ivy League selection at Cornell University helped CC compile a 29-10-4 record and climb to No. 14 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Division III poll in 2014. He also gained valuable insight into the nuances of competing and recruiting at a prestigious liberal arts institution, as well as an understanding of the intricacies of the college’s Block Plan.
Armed with that experience, Palguta wasted no time adding to the program’s tradition-rich history.
In 2016, Palguta’s second season as head coach, CC posted a 16-3-1 overall mark, which tied for the third-most victories in a single-season during the program’s 58 seasons of varsity soccer. That year’s .825 winning percentage was the fourth-highest in program history. The 2022 team’s 14-game unbeaten streak was the longest since the 1992 Final Four squad.
Since taking the reins of the program, five of Palguta’s players have earned All-America honors from the United Soccer Coaches, including Soren Frykholm and Theo Hooker, who were first-team selections in 2016. Colorado College also has won 23 combined all-region certificates during Palguta’s tenure.
As a team, CC was nationally ranked by the United Soccer Coaches in 2015, 2016 and 2019, when the Tigers earned the program’s 20th appearance in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
Colorado College also has been regular recipients of SCAC awards, claiming 18 first-team honors and 15 more second-team selections.
CC has won all four of the conference’s major awards, the most recent of which was Palguta being named Coach of the Year for the first time in 2019.
Under Palguta’s guidance, the Tigers have been every bit as successful in the classroom.
A clear indication of Palguta’s dedication to the program’s tradition of academic excellence is that Colorado College has received the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award every season during his tenure, extending the program’s streak to 18 years and posting the highest GPA of any men's team in the country, regardless of division, in 2022-23. Also, during the last eight seasons, more than 75 percent of Palguta’s players have earned a spot on the SCAC Academic Honor Roll.
The Tigers also have earned some of the nation’s most prestigious awards.
Seven Colorado College players have received a combined eight Scholar All-America certificates from the United Soccer Coaches, while CC also has produced 25 Scholar all-Region selections.
Max Grossenbacher was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2015, while Tigers were named to the Academic All-District team seven times.
Grossenbacher (2015), Soren Frykholm (2016), and Keenan Amer (2018) won NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, while Hooker earned the prestigious Watson Fellowship in 2017.
Prior to joining CC in 2013, Palguta played four seasons as a defender with the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer. He signed with Colorado in 2009 and was part of the 2010 team that captured the MLS Cup.
A native of Toms River, N.J., Palguta graduated from Cornell in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in hotel administration.
While attending Cornell, Palguta played for Cape Cod of the USL Premier Development League from 2002 to 2004, winning back-to-back national championships with the Crusaders in 2002 and 2003.
Palguta earned his first taste of professional soccer during his senior year at Cornell after he was drafted by the Rochester Raging Rhinos in the second round of the USL First Division College Draft. He was named the league’s “Rookie of the Year” in 2005 and was an all-USL selection in 2008.
He earned his USSF 'A' coaching license in 2014.
Palguta and his wife, Melissa, are the parents of a son, Caden, and daughter, Maddie..
