Eric Bucchere
Assistant Coach
Bucchere, 34, has 11 years of coaching experience on his résumé. He most recently held the head coach position for the men’s soccer team at Menlo College, posting an overall record of 43-23-9 across four seasons, including a Golden State Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championship in 2016. Bucchere also led the Premier Development League club Burlingame Dragons to back-toback division titles from 2015-16.
Bucchere led Menlo College the best season in program history in 2016, winning a program best 15 games en route to a 15-5-1 overall record, a GSAC regular season title, and also a GSAC tournament championship. These marked the first GSAC titles in the history of Menlo College in any sport. The Oaks also earned a trip to the NAIA National Championships Opening Round for only the second time in program history.
As an coach in the San Jose Earthquakes academy from 2013-2015, Bucchere worked Earthquakes' U16 and U18 teams, helping guide the U16 group to an USSFDA Elite 8 appearance in 2014, and a USSFDA Final Four appearance in 2015.
More recently from 2015-2106 Bucchere was the head coach for the Earthquakes' USL Premier Development League (PDL) affiliate, Burlingame Dragons FC. In their inaugural season in 2015, as an assistant, Bucchere helped guide the Dragons to an 11-2-3 overall record, a Southwest Division Championship, and a Western Conference Final Four appearance. As head coach in 2016, Bucchere led the Dragons to a second consecutive PDL Conference Championship, and a second consecutive appearance in the PDL Western Conference Final Four.
Prior to his time at Menlo, Bucchere spent five seasons as the head assistant coach at UC San Diego. During his five-year tenure at UCSD, Bucchere helped guide the Tritons to an overall record of 44-33-14 while competing in the CCAA, a conference that is widely regarded as the top NCAA Division II conference in the country.
A 2005 graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a degree in literature, Bucchere went on to spend two seasons as the head assistant coach for the Banana Slugs from 2006-2008. During his two-year tenure, the Banana Slugs put together a 36-7 overall record, qualifying for the NCAA Division III playoffs in both seasons. In 2006, UCSC registered a national-leading 20 shutouts and led the nation in goals-against average while advancing to the NCAA Round of 16. In 2007, UCSC again reached the NCAA Tournament and earned an NSCAA Team Academic Award for 2007-08 (3.0 GPA).
Bucchere, who has earned a United States Soccer Federation 'B' coaching license, was a standout midfielder at UC Santa Cruz under head coach Paul Holocher from 2001-2004. A four-year letter winner, Bucchere helped the team to a 69-12-3 during his four seasons. The team qualified for the NCAA tournament three of the four years, winning NCAA DIII Western Regional Championships in 2003 and 2004, and earning a 2004 NCAA DIII National Championship game appearance.