Now in his 12th season as Nazareth's men's soccer coach, Danny Gilbertson has established himself as one of the area's top coaches after guiding the Golden Flyers to post-season tournament appearances in seven of the past 10 seasons, including NCAA Tournament berths in 2005 and 2006.
Under Gilbertson's direction, the Golden Flyers have become recognized for peaking toward season's end. The Golden Flyers rode a 10-game unbeaten streak to an 11-5-2 overall record (and a 5-0-2 conference mark) in 2009 and the regular-season Empire 8 Conference title. The Golden Flyers hosted the E8 title match and dropped a tough 2-1 decision to Stevens.
A seven-game winning streak in 2010 enabled Nazareth to return to the conference title match, but the Golden Flyers again lost to Stevens, 1-0, for the coveted automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Then in 2011, Nazareth won six of its last seven regular-season matches before falling in penalty kicks to Elmira in the E8 Tournament to finish 10-6-1 overall.
In Gilbertson's second season (2005), the Golden Flyers made a surprise appearance in the NCAAs (despite a 6-10-5 overall record) after claiming the Empire 8 Conference co-championship.
They followed that up with a record-breaking 15-5-3 season in 2006, which featured another conference championship and a berth in the national quarterfinals.
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The back-to-back NCAA berths marked the first two (and only) appearances in the Golden Flyers' history. The 15 wins in 2006 also were a school record.
Gilbertson was honored for his team's unparalleled success by being named Northeast Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Nazareth enjoyed another competitive season in 2007 as the Golden Flyers finished 8-9-2 overall, qualified for the Empire 8 Tournament and were selected to compete in the ECAC Upstate Tournament. In 2008, Nazareth fell one game short of a conference playoff berth with a 7-8-2 overall record and 3-3-1 conference showing.
A native of London, Gilbertson was named Nazareth's head coach in 2004, succeeding the legendary Doug May, who died suddenly in April of that year.
He was an assistant coach for four seasons at Hobart, where he teamed with head coach Shawn Griffin to transform the Statesmen into one of the top programs in the region. Hobart finished 6-11-2 in Gilbertson's first season there in 2000, then 14-7-1 in his final season in 2003. Hobart was chosen as the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association's Coaching Staff of the Year for '03.
As a player, Gilbertson was a four-year starter and three-year captain while playing sweeper and center midfield at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. He led the Panthers to three NCAA Tournament appearances and an undefeated regular season in 1998. He earned regional All-American honors in '98 and was a three-time Little East Conference all-star selection.
After graduating with a degree in physical education, Gilbertson played one season for the Vermont Voltage of the USL's Premier Development League.
Gilbertson played for Griffin at Plymouth State and served as an assistant coach there in 1999. He followed Griffin to Hobart in 2000.
Gilbertson's coaching qualifications include certification from the United European Football Association and a national advanced coaching diploma from the NSCAA.
Just the third men's soccer coach in Nazareth's 35-year history, Gilbertson resides in Pittsford.
