Capital University

Alan Yost enters his 11th season as head men's soccer coach and begins his 12th year, overall, at Capital University in the fall of 2023. 

Over the course of his 10 seasons as head coach, the Purple and White have collected 50 all-conference honors, including 11 first-team selections. Eleven all-region selections have come out of Capital, including two by midfielder Jacob Pulliam ’17. Five different players have been crowned OAC Player of the Year, two of those coming in 2016. He has also coached one conference Freshman of the year in 2022. On the academic side, 62 have earned Academic All-OAC laurels.

Capital had one of the most accomplished seasons in program history in 2018 as the team earned a share of the OAC regular season title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. Capital finished with an overall record of 15-5 and went 8-1 in conference, tying the program record for conference wins in a season. Capital led the OAC in goals with 63 and Yost was named Co-Coach of the Year. Senior forward Chewy Gordon was named the OAC Player of the Year and became the first Capital player to be named a First Team All-American, one of his two All-American awards. Three players received All-Region honors and six were named Academic All-OAC. The Purple and White scored a program-record 63 goals as a team and set a new program mark with 43 assists.  Twenty-four of those goals were scored by Gordon, the second-most by a player in a single season. Junior defender Greg Knox set a new program record with 16 assists.

In 2017 Capital won 13 games, five in the conference, and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the team's first NCAA appearance since 2009. Once in the tournament, the 2017 CU squad became the first team in program history to win an NCAA Tournament game with a 2-1 double-overtime victory over Dominican University (Ill.). Capital made it to the OAC Tournament final. Senior goalkeeper Justin Niswonger was named the 2017 OAC Goaltender of the Year and was honored as an NSCAA Scholar All-American. Niswonger and forward Chewy Gordon each earned First Team All-OAC laurels and were named to the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team. The duo joined three others on All-OAC teams. Capital beat the third-ranked team in the country, St. Thomas (Minn.), 2-0, early in the season and found its name in the regional rankings several times throughout the season.

In 2016, Yost led the team to the most overall wins in a season while at Capital and also the most since the 2009 season. With a 14-4-2 overall record, Yost guided Capital into the national top-25 rankings by both the NSCAA and D3Soccer.com, topping out at No. 18 and No. 19, respectively. CU also posted the longest winning (10) and unbeaten (14) streaks in recorded program history. In this season, goaltender Justin Niswonger excelled and spent multiple weeks ranked No. 1 in the country in save percentage and goals-against average, and at year’s end Cap housed two OAC players of the year in Alexander Basiakos (defense) and Jacob Pulliam (midfield).

Capital went on to post its best conference season under Yost with a 7-1-1 ledger in 2015. It tied the 2007, 2008 and 2009 teams’ marks for second-best conference record in program history and granted them the No. 2 seed in that year’s OAC Tournament.

In 2014, finished with an overall record of 10-9-1, including an upset win over nationally-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University and a first-round victory in the OAC Tournament quarterfinals.

In 2013, Yost led Capital to a 9-8-3 overall record, including a 5-4 mark in the OAC and wins over perennial powerhouse Colorado College and league champion Ohio Northern. The Purple and White reached the OAC Tournament semifinals, where they were outlasted 2-1 in double overtime to eventual tournament champion and NCAA qualifier Ohio Northern. OAC Goalkeeper of the Year Bob Weisgarber became the program's first-ever NSCAA Academic All-American. Weisgarber and two others were named all-conference, while six players were tabbed Academic All-OAC.

In 2012, he served as interim head coach and led Cap to a seven-match unbeaten streak, including a tie against defending national champion Ohio Wesleyan. With Yost at the helm, Capital improved its overall record in both Ohio Athletic Conference and nonconference play, generated more goals, assists, shots per game, shots on goal, corners, overall points and shutouts, and increased its team grade point average from the year before.

Prior to Capital, Yost spent three years as the top assistant coach at Ohio Dominican University, where the Panthers compiled an overall record of 30-18-7 during that span. Yost assisted with all facets of the program, including recruiting, scouting, travel, budgeting and training preparation. Prior to ODU, Yost coached at Alma College and served as a volunteer assistant at Ohio Wesleyan.

Coach Yost coaches club soccer for Ohio Premier Soccer Club in Dublin, Ohio. Yost was on staff with the girls side as they won their first ECNL National Championship. Now on the boys side, Yost’s teams compete in the National League and his U18 boys team has been ranked inside the top 25 in the country and in recent years has won Ohio State Championship.

Yost obtained his National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Premier Diploma in the summer of 2010, which is the highest diploma offered through the NSCAA. Yost is an associate staff coach for NSCAA and teaches coaching educational licensing courses. Currently, Yost also serves on the NCAA Regional Athletic Committee and United Soccer Coaches Regional Rankings Committee, as well as the OAC coaches committee.

Originally from Pataskala, Ohio, Yost graduated from Watkins Memorial H.S. in 2002 and earned first team all-state honors and OCC Player of the Year in soccer. He later went on to play soccer for legendary head coach Jay Martin at Ohio Wesleyan University, earning a degree in sport management in 2006 as well as the Fred Meyers Award three times. Yost helped lead the Bishops to three conference championships and a No. 2 final ranking in 2006 after his team finished the season with a 20-1-0 overall record and a four-year record of 71-11-4.