Bio

Head Coaching Tenure

Nine seasons
Overall Record: 115-8-8 (.908)

Medals

6x CCAA National Champion (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022)
7x OCAA Provincial Champion (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
2014 OCAA Silver Medal
2017 OCAA Bronze Medal

Coaching Accolades

2017 CCAA Coaching Excellence Award
3x OCAA Division Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017)

CCAA Postseason

National Titles: 6 (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022)
Record: 20-2 (.909)
Tournament Appearances: 7 (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
Final Four Appearances: 6 (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022)

OCAA Postseason

Provincial Titles: 7 (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
Record: 26-2 (.929)
Postseason Appearances: 9 (2013 to 2022)
Final Four Appearances: 9 (2013 to 2022)

OCAA Regular Season

Record: 69-4-8 (.901)
Division Titles: 8 (2013-18, 2021, 2022)

OCAA Indoor Soccer

3x OCAA Provincial Champion (2015, 2016, 2018)
2022 OCAA Silver Medal
2017 OCAA Bronze Medal 

About

Michael Aquino was named the Humber men's soccer head coach in June 2013, and begins his tenth season at the program's helm in 2023. Aquino initially joined Humber soccer as an assistant coach and served four seasons in the role before his promotion to head coach.

Aquino's career success cannot be measured by the numbers alone - while, on their own, the numbers are impressive enough. Aquino owns a nine-year coaching career record at Humber of 115-8-8 with a 69-4-8 record in OCAA league play. Those marks include seven 10-win seasons, six CCAA national titles, and seven OCAA provincial championships. Under his guidance, the Hawks average less than one loss per season.

Two of the longest streaks in OCAA soccer came under Aquino's tutelage, including a 43-match unbeaten streak. From September 2015 to October 2017, the Hawks went 42-0-1, including 37 consecutive league and postseason victories. The streak lasted 1,098 days and included 30 clean sheets as the Hawks outscored their opponents 156-18. In 4,020 minutes of game action, Humber only trailed for 14 minutes.

Aquino won 13 straight CCAA championship matches from 2013 to 2019, surpassing men's basketball head coach Mike Katz's record of 12 (1991 to 1996). He has coached six CCAA All-Canadians, two CCAA and five OCAA Players of the Year, and 37 first-team All-Ontario selections. 

Taking over a program that won the national championship in 2012, Aquino handled the pressure as a rookie head coach with resounding poise. He quickly made soccer the third superpower in Humber varsity history as the Hawks successfully defended their national title for the first time. Finishing his rookie campaign with a 12-1-1 record, Aquino received his first of three consecutive OCAA Division Coach of the Year awards. 

In one of the wildest title games in CCAA history, Aquino and the Hawks overcame the impossible to win the 2015 CCAA national crown. Humber's daunting defence was put to work in the finals, as the Hawks played almost the entire match shorthanded. After having a player ejected for a red card in the tenth and 30th minute, the Hawks played two men down for nearly 100 minutes of game time, earning a nil-nil draw against powerhouse Capilano to force penalty kicks. Keeper Eugenio Garro made another key save in penalties, and seasoned veteran Michael Aigbokie buried the game-winner to give the Hawks their third national title of the decade.

Aquino and his Hawks team of 2016 will forever be the darlings of CCAA soccer lore. Humber turned in one of its finest seasons with a record-setting 16-0-0 mark, becoming the first-ever OCAA team to finish the year with a perfect record. One of the most dominant CCAA squad's ever assembled, the Hawks outscored their opponents 31-1 in six postseason matches, including a program-record 8-0 CCAA semifinal victory over Algonquin. Humber went on to beat Keyano in the finals, securing the third national title in four seasons for Coach Aquino.

Later that year, Aquino was honoured as the 2016-17 CCAA Coaching Excellence award recipient, joining men's basketball head coach Mike Katz (2001) and golf coach Ray Chateau (2012) as the only Humber coaches to receive the honour. He was the first, and to this date, the only men's soccer coach to win the CCAA's most prestigious award for coaching.

It was seventh heaven for Humber soccer in 2018, as Aquino led the Hawks to the program's seventh national title and fifth since 2012. It was Humber's 50th national title as an institution and made the men's soccer program the most decorated program in the country. Aquino's fourth career national title was anything but easy, as the Hawks squeezed out two penalty-kick victories in the first two rounds in Prince Edward Island. What made the title even sweeter was the way the Hawks overcame a late deficit in the national semifinal match. With a two-goal lead, Humber surrendered three unanswered tallies after playing a man down midway through the opening half. Unphased by the goal, Humber pressed in injury time, needing a goal to keep its championship aspirations alive. A long throw-in from Cody Green found the head of Stavros Badunas, who banged home the equalizer as time expired. In penalty kicks, keeper Karman Singh made an incredible diving save in the first round, which was all Humber needed after all five kickers for the Hawks scored.

After the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 season, Aquino reloaded his roster, looking to become the most accomplished soccer coach in the country. The Hawks successfully defended their provincial title for the third consecutive season, blanking George Brown in the finals, 4-0. At nationals in Calgary, Humber once again found itself needing penalty kicks to reach the finals, this time coming out on top against the Montmorency Nomades in the semifinal. A 1-0 victory over Douglas two days later cemented Humber as a national dynasty, capturing the program's sixth national title since 2012. Aquino's fifth championship made his title count second-to-none, surpassing Canadian Soccer of Famer Marc Rizzardo and the four titles his Langara squads captured from 1992 to 2000. 

The 2022 season saw Aquino and the Hawks run the gauntlet once again, finishing with another 16-0-0 record as the program captured its ninth national title. Out in British Columbia, Humber held on to defeat Seneca in extra time, as Coach Aquino earned his sixth title to become the most decorated team sport head coach in Humber Athletics history. 

Aquino currently holds an 'A' license from the Canadian Soccer Association and an Advanced National Diploma and Director of Coaching Diploma from the National Coaches Soccer Association of America. He also holds a Chartered Professional Coach (ChPc) designation from the Coaches of Canada, as well as a National Coaching Certification Program (Level 4) certification.

In 1998, Aquino graduated with honours from York University with a bachelor's degree in health sciences and earned a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Windsor a year later. In 2008 he earned a master's degree in education from Charles Sturt University in Australia.

With over two decades of experience as an educator, Aquino has taught health and physical education at Brebeuf College School since 2005, where he has coached the boys' soccer team.

In September 2019, Aquino was introduced as the new head coach of the Aurora FC League 1 Ontario men's soccer team after serving several roles within AFC, including assistant technical director and as a head coach within the OPDL program. When Aurora ceased operations, Aquino joined the Woodbridge SC coaching staff in 2020.

As a player, Aquino was involved in the Canadian youth U20 and U16 player pool, receiving an athletic scholarship to Quincy University (NCAA DI) before concluding his varsity career as a Windsor Lancer (U Sports). He went on to play in the Canadian Soccer League for both the York Region Shooters and the Metro Lions.

Aquino currently resides in the York Region with his wife, Caitlin, and son, Christian.