Steve DeMatteo joined the men's soccer program as an assistant coach in July of 2019.
2024 was a historic season for Penn, as the coaches earned Ivy League Coaching Staff of the Year and USC 2024 DI Men’s Northeast Region Staff of the Year, guiding the Quakers to a historic 13-2-1 overall record, perfect Ivy League season and numerous weeks in the Top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches (USC) poll. Penn's perfect 7-0-0 Ivy League season is the 14th in Ivy history, the fifth this century, the first since 2021, and the first for the Quakers since 1971. The Quakers knocked off #3 Pitt (1-0), #21 Hofstra (3-1), and #16 Cornell (3-2) to account for the ranked victories this year. Stas Korzeniowski and Leo Burney earned Ivy League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards. Jack-Ryan Jeremiah was named First Team All-Ivy, while Patrick Cayelli, Brandon Curran, Connor Dawson, Ben D0, Phillip Falcon III, and Aaron Messer were all additional All-Ivy selections.
2023 was another stellar season for the men’s soccer program. Gill was named Ivy League Coach of the Year after leading Penn to its first second-straight regular season title and the first overall seed in the inaugural Ivy League Men’s Soccer Tournament, guiding the Quakers to a 7-3-6 record (4-1-2 in conference play). Those four conference wins included victories over Cornell, Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton. Penn picked up a historic victory on the road, topping #14 Penn State 3-0 in Happy Valley for the first time in program history, propelled by a hat trick from Michael Hewes. Leo Burney was named All-Region First Team and Nick Christoffersen, Hewes, and Stas Korzeniowski Second Team selections, respectively, while Ben Do was an additional All-Ivy selection.
2022 was a standout season for the men’s soccer program. Gill was named the unanimous Ivy League Coach of the Year after leading Penn to its first conference title since 2013, guiding the Quakers to a 13-3-2 record (6-1-0 in conference play), and numerous weeks in the Top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches (USC) poll. Those six conference wins included victories over Columbia and Princeton since 2011 and 2013, respectively. Stas Korzeniowski and Leo Burney were both named USC second-team All-America, in addition to earning Ivy League Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards, the first sophomores to earn major award recognition from the Ivies since 1993. Ben Stitz and Isaac McGinnis were All-Region second and third-team selections, respectively, while Nick Christoffersen, Jack Rosener, and Ben Do were all additional All-Ivy selections.
Following a CoVID-cancelled 2020 campaign, the Quakers' 2021 season ended with a 7-6-3 overall record, the program’s third straight season at .500 or better, the first such stretch for the program in more than a decade. Those seven victories included three straight, 2-1 comeback wins at Rhodes Field against Drexel, Dartmouth, and Temple, respectively. Four Quakers earned year-end All-Ivy honors, including freshman First-team defender Leo Burney and Second-team senior midfielders Ben Stitz and Isaac McGinnis. Additionally, Burney was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Northeast Region Third Team, the College Soccer News All-Freshman Second Team, and the Philly Soccer Six Freshman of the Year.
In just his first season, DeMatteo helped Penn to a 7-5-4 tally, the first above .500 record since 2011. With a second-place finish in the Ivy League standings with 12 points, the Quakers sat only behind Ivy Champion, Yale, who had just one loss in league play for the year, to Penn on October 26 in Philadelphia, 1-0 in double overtime. In his first season, he coached the Ivy Defensive Player of the Year in junior Alex Touche and four other All-Ivy honorees.
DeMatteo joined Penn following stops as as an assistant coach at at Arcadia and Lafayette, and two years at the helm at Manhattanville College. There, he accumulated a 21-14-1 record, including a 13-6 mark in 2018, the most wins for the program since 2011. The 2018 MAC Freedom Coach of the Year, DeMatteo helped land the Valiants a program-record nine all-conference selections during the season.
DeMatteo arrived at Manhattanville after spending the two years prior as an assistant coach at Lafayette. Working with the team's back four, he crafted the unit into the best defense in the Patriot League in 2016, conceding a conference-low 1.06 goals per game. That followed up on his first season, in which the Leopards allowed only 17 goals in 18 matches (0.94 goals/game). Previously, DeMatteo spent two seasons as the top assistant coach at Arcadia from 2013-15. He played a role in all aspects of the program including recruiting, scouting and on-field training sessions.
DeMatteo has also worked extensively at the elite and academy youth level of the game. In 2016 and 2017 DeMatteo lead the Patriot FC 99 boys to back-to-back USYS PA East State Cup Championships. In 2016 the same team finished as USYS Region 1 Semi-Finalist. Prior to his time at Patriot FC DeMatteo worked with Match Fit Academy FC in NJ. During his time at Match Fit DeMatteo worked with U14 USSDA team as well as the U13 and U12 Pre-Academy teams.
As a player, DeMatteo began his career at Drew University before spending his last three seasons at William Paterson University. He started 45 of his 46 appearances on the field for the Pioneers, scoring eight goals with five assists for 21 points. The 2013 William Paterson graduate is still tied for first all-time at the school in both matches started and matches played in a season, starting all 22 appearances in 2008 for the ECAC Metro Tournament champions. Additionally, in 2010 DeMatteo played 1 season in the National Premier Soccer League for the New Jersey based club NJ Blaze.
DeMatteo currently holds licenses from the United States Soccer Federation as well as the United Soccer Coaches Association.
