COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Former Major League Soccer player Scott Palguta, who recently completed a four-year career with the Colorado Rapids, has been named assistant coach of the Colorado College men’s soccer team, head coach Horst Richardson announced.

“I am absolutely thrilled to join the coaching staff of the Colorado College men’s soccer program,” Palguta said. “It has been a long-standing goal of mine to transition into collegiate coaching upon retirement from the professional game, and I can think of no better place to start than CC. 

“I feel extremely fortunate to join an elite soccer program so rich in tradition and regularly in the national spotlight. The opportunity to learn and grow under the guidance of a legendary coach like Horst Richardson will undoubtedly allow me to be a positive influence on future student-athletes at Colorado College.”

Palguta, a native of Toms River, N.J., was a two-time all-Ivy League selection at Cornell University, where he graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in hotel administration.

“Scott approached me and indicated his playing career was coming to an end, and he was interested in coaching at the collegiate level,” Richardson said. “Once we had a meeting, it was immediately evident that he would be a gold mine for us.”

“Scott was a top-flight defender with the Rapids and, as a graduate of Cornell, he can identify with the type of student-athletes we recruit.”

While attending Cornell, Palguta played for Cape Cod of the USL Premier Development League from 2002 to 2004, winning back-to-back national championships with the Crusaders in 2002 and 2003.

Palguta got his first taste of professional soccer during his senior year at Cornell after he was drafted by the Rochester Raging Rhinos in the second round of the USL First Division College Draft.

He was named the league’s “Rookie of the Year” in 2005 and was an all-USL selection in 2008.

Palguta, who signed with Rapids in 2009, also participated in the New Jersey Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 1994 until 2002.

“We are very excited about having Scott join our program,” Richardson said. “He has instant credibility with our players and recruits because of his playing experience at the professional and collegiate levels. I’m very happy we were able to add Scott to our staff and it bodes well for the future of our program.”

Palguta succeeds James Wagenschutz, who resigned in December after his sixth season to become the high-school boys director at FC Boulder.