Assistant Coach Ricardo Pinto joined the Huskies in 2024 after spending the previous three seasons as the Assistant Coach for Northwestern University.
In his first season at Northeastern, Pinto's work with the goalkeepers was evident as the Huskies had one of their best defensive seasons in recent years, with goalkeeper Colby Hegarty posting a 1.00 GAA, which is the sixth-best season GAA by a goalkeeper in Northeastern history, and was good for the second-best average in the conference in 2024. His save percentage, .793, was also second-best in the CAA, and 19th in the NCAA. The Huskies as a whole had their lowest team GAA (1.06) since 2018.
During his time at Northwestern, the Wildcats achieved great success during Pinto's tenure, highlighted by the team’s 10-4-3 overall record in 2023 – the program’s best mark since the 2008 campaign. As a result of that success, Northwestern garnered its highest United Soccer Coaches Poll ranking at number 12 and was listed among the nation’s top 25 in six of 11 weeks. In his first two seasons with the program, Pinto assisted in creating two nationally-ranked recruiting classes that ranked fifth in 2022 and sixth in 2023.
Before Northwestern, he spent two seasons with Loyola University Chicago. The Ramblers had 18 wins in two seasons, including the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference title and an NCAA tournament appearance.
Pinto also spent time in the CAA as a member of the Coaching Staff at UNCW, where the team qualified for the 2018 NCAA tournament with a 12-5-3 record. Under his guidance, the Seahawks finished 18th nationally in goals-against-average.
Pinto’s first job out of college was spending the 2017 season at Stetson University in DeLand, FL. He helped the Hatters capture the 2017 Atlantic Sun Conference regular season for the first time since 2006”
Pinto’s family relocated from Ovar, Portugal to Beaverton, Oregon. He played collegiate soccer at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay where he graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree before obtaining his Master’s in Sport Management from the University of South Dakota in 2017.
Pinto currently holds a U.S. Soccer National C License and is in the process of obtaining his UEFA Coaching License.
