Beavercreek soccer: Son succeeds Guiliano as head coach

John Guiliano, who oversaw a transformation of the Beavercreek High School boys soccer program into a state power, retired as the Beavers’ head coach on Monday, but he’s not leaving the program.

Guiliano will swap roles with his son, longtime Beavers’ assistant Jason Guiliano. John Guiliano has been Beavercreek’s head coach the last 29 seasons and Jason, also a Beavercreek alum, an assistant for 19 years. John will continue to coach with the program as an assistant to Jason.

“After 33 years it’s time to turn it over to a younger group,” said John.

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According to Ohio High School Athletic Association records, John Guiliano is No. 5 in all-time wins with a 427-110-85 overall combined record from 1989-2018. Former Springfield Central Catholic coach Shane Latham is No. 2 (480 wins from 1986-2017) and current Carroll boys coach Scott Molfenter is No. 3 (468 wins from 1990-2018).

A Long Island, N.Y., native who played collegiately at Rochester Institute of Technology, Guiliano excelled in club soccer against ethnic Long Island teams. He was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where he retired in 1989, and initially was an area soccer official.

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He succeeded Kevin Lewis as the Beavers’ head coach with a goal of breaking through the area’s two best boys programs of that era, Centerville and Northmont.

Beavercreek boys soccer took off the last decade, advancing to the Division I state final four in six seasons since 2008. Twice a D-I state runner-up, Beavercreek completed a 22-0-2 season in 2017 by winning a D-I state championship .

“The group of kids we’ve had going through every year set high standards for themselves and have done a great job of achieving their goals,” Guiliano said. “The kids have done the things that have been required as the game has matured over the years.”

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Guiliano-led Beavercreek teams also won 17 Western Ohio League or Greater Western Ohio Conference titles, 12 district and seven regional championships.

Beavercreek girls soccer coach Steve Popp was named the United Soccer Coaches 2018 High School/Youth Girls' National Coach (large school) of the Year in January. The Beavercreek girls were 24-0-0 last season and won the D-I state championship .

Popp ranks No. 3 all-time among Ohio’s winningest girls soccer coaches (397-118-64) and took over the Beavers in 1999 after previously coaching at Bellbrook and Wayne.

“We’ve built what we think is a great program for the high school, men and women,” said Guiliano.

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• Paul Holliday has been promoted to head coach of the Dayton Christian boys soccer team after four seasons as a Warriors assistant. A DC grad, he succeeds Neill Craft, who was named head coach at Fairmont. Dayton Christian is an established D-III Southwest District power and placed runner-up in the state last season.

Craft succeeds Dave Kozlowski, who guided the Firebirds the last three seasons.

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