Metuchen, NJ — United Women’s Soccer (UWS) national pro-am league is proud to announce that AC Syracuse Pulse will join the lineup for the 2022 season. The newly-launched women’s team will be led by former UWS star Brooke Barbuto, who has accepted the role of head coach.
“We are excited to add the Syracuse market to our conference alongside Buffalo, Rochester and Albany,” said League Commissioner Joe Ferrara. “What is most rewarding is to see Brooke Barbuto appointed as head coach. One of the pillars in UWS is to provide opportunities for females across all levels of the sport. To see Brooke go from UWS Player of the Year to a managerial position last season and now to head coach of the Pulse is great news.”
AC Syracuse Pulse is a community based soccer club in Syracuse, New York. The club has an academy youth program, along with amateur and professional men’s teams. The addition of a women’s team offers an opportunity for players to showcase their talent during the UWS season, which runs from May through July culminating in a national championship.
“I am extremely excited for this opportunity with AC Syracuse to bring a top level Women’s team to the Syracuse area,” said Coach Brooke Barbuto. “Syracuse is filled with so much great talent and it will be a fantastic opportunity for players to compete at a high level during the summer. Thank you to the UWS for an amazing career as a player. I am excited to be transitioning from a player to a coach in such a high level league. It will be great to share my passion, knowledge and experience with the current and future team.”
Brooke Barbuto is a recognizable name in Central New York and beyond, both from her playing and coaching career. A native of Syracuse, NY, Barbuto has numerous accolades from her high school and Division 1 career at Stony Brook University. She also has an extensive professional playing resume that began in 2009 with the Buffalo Flash. In 2011, she began a successful seven year stretch of playing professional soccer overseas with Haukar (Reykavik, Iceland) Kokkola, Finland where she earned a promotion from Ykkonen (Division I) to Naisten Liiga, was a one year captain, and the 2013 MVP. From 2014-2016 she played for NiceFutis (Pori, Finland) in the country’s highest professional soccer league. Her professional career came to a close in 2017 as she guided the Peninsula Power (Brisbane, Australia) to a National Premier League Queensland Championship.
Following her professional career, Barbuto began playing in the UWS in 2018 with the Rochester Lancers and was named the league MVP of the Year. She then played for Syracuse DA, earning UWS East Conference First Team the past two seasons.
Coach Brooke Barbuto has experience coaching at the youth club and college levels as an assistant at SUNY Cortland, head coach at Bryant and Stratton College (2 years), and has been the head women’s coach at Utica College since 2019. Barbuto has led the Pioneers to two straight Empire 8 Championship game appearances in as many years at the helm, including the program’s first Empire 8 tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2019. She has piloted the squad to a record of 14-9-4 over that span.
“I am very excited to be having our very own Women’s Semi-Pro Soccer Team for AC Syracuse Pulse,” said Samir Belhseine (Owner). “I’m excited to be joining UWS and confident Coach Brooke will lead us through a successful season!”
AC Syracuse Pulse will call 2,000-seat Lazer Stadium at Onondaga Community College home. For more information on AC Syracuse, visit their official website. Connect with @ACSyracuse on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
