Steve AxtellSteve Axtell enters his 14th year as Cortland’s men’s soccer head coach in 2025 with an overall record of 170-57-24 (.725). Axtell has led the Red Dragons to eight NCAA Division III tournaments since 2014, including six trips to the “Sweet 16” during that stretch.
Axtell was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year and ECAC North Coach of the Year, and his staff was chosen as the NSCAA East Region Coaching Staff of the Year, in 2016. Axtell and his assistants earned United Soccer Coaches Region 3 Coaching Staff of the Year and SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year awards in both 2021 and 2023.
Cortland advanced to the NCAA “Sweet 16” three straight years from 2021-23 in addition to 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Red Dragons won SUNYAC tournament titles under Axtell in 2016, 2021, 2023, and 2024 and were league runner-up in 2013, 2014 and 2018.
In 2024, Cortland earned its second straight SUNYAC tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Div. III playoffs for the fourth straight year, finishing tied for 33rd nationally with a 15-3-6 record. Cortland had three players earn All-America honors and four players were named to the all-region teams, while six players were All-SUNYAC selections, including the Defensive Player of the Year.
Cortland finished 19-3 and set school records for victories and shutouts (14) in 2016. The 2021 squad finished 18-3-1, the 2022 team went 13-6-3 and the 2023 Red Dragons finished 16-3-3. Axtell also guided Cortland to 17 wins in 2018 and 16 wins in 2014, and his 2017 squad won 16 games and advanced to the NCAA second round.
Axtell was named the head coach in June 2012 after serving as interim head coach for five months and as an assistant coach for the Red Dragons in 2010 and 2011. He also was a volunteer student assistant coach during the 2007 season.
A goalkeeper for the Red Dragons for three seasons (2006, 2008-09), Axtell earned All-SUNYAC honors in 2008 and appeared in 39 career games with nine shutouts. He earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2008 and obtained a master’s degree in exercise science in 2014.
A native of Franklin, N.Y., Axtell holds a Premier Diploma and an Advanced National Goalkeeping Diploma from the NSCAA with Distinguished Pass. He was appointed to the NSCAA National Staff, which makes him both a National Staff member as well as Associate National Goalkeeping Staff for the NSCAA. He teaches NSCAA coaching courses throughout the Northeast and directs the Goalkeeper College ID Camps at the University of Connecticut during the summer.
Axtell also is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and has received a conditioning for soccer diploma from the International Coaches Association. He is the founder and director of the OnePlus Soccer Academy in Ithaca, N.Y., which features teams ranging from U8 to U18, residential camps and clinics. The Academy does the training for various soccer clubs in the area, has a goalkeeping academy and conducts coaching education clinics throughout the year. Part of the organization is a non-profit club that holds grassroots programs for young players at no cost throughout New York state.
Besides assisting with both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Cortland, Axtell has served as the head coach of the Central Region scholastic soccer team at the Empire State Games. He has acted as director of soccer at Camp Winadu in Mass. for two years and Ithaca MicroSoccer for one year. In April 2013, Axtell was named to the ODP Region-1 Staff as its goalkeeper coach.
Axtell and his wife, Heidi, the Cortland women’s soccer head coach, currently reside in Tully with their daughter Allie and Heidi’s daughters Mari and Kenzie.
Heidi AxtellHeidi Axtell enters her 22nd year as the head coach of the Cortland women’s soccer program in 2025. She has posted a career record of 207-122-57 (.610), along with three SUNYAC tournament titles and five NCAA Division III tournament appearances, and is also Cortland’s career wins leader.
In 2024, Axtell led the Red Dragons to an 11-4-4 overall record and a share of the SUNYAC regular-season title. Cortland also reached the finals of the SUNYAC tournament for the sixth year in a row. The Red Dragons had nine players receive All-SUNYAC honors, and one United Soccer Coaches all-region honoree. Axtell also became the first coach in program history to reach 200 career victories in a 2-0 victory at Plattsburgh.
In 2023, Axtell guided Cortland to an 11-3-5 record and both the SUNYAC regular-season and tournament titles for a spot in the NCAA Div. III tournament. She and her assistants were named the SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year, marking the third time she’s been recognized by the conference. She also was SUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2019.
In 2022, Axtell’s Red Dragons finished 13-1-5 and won the SUNYAC regular-season title. Cortland finished second in the SUNYAC tournament on penalty kicks and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs. In 2019, Axtell led the Red Dragons to a 12-6-2 record, the league tournament title and an NCAA berth.
Axtell led the Red Dragons to the NCAA Division III tournament “Elite 8” and an 14-6-3 overall record in 2011. That season was Cortland’s best campaign since the program won the 1992 NCAA Division III title. Cortland tied for fifth nationally and won the SUNYAC regular-season title for the first time since the conference went to one division in 1995. In 2012, her squad won the SUNYAC tournament crown, advanced to the NCAA Division III “Sweet 16” and finished 12-5-6.
In all, Axtell’s teams have reached double-figure wins 14 times, including seven straight seasons from 2017-19/2021-24. Her 2018 squad went 11-5-2 and her 2021 team was 10-5-3, with each placing second in the SUNYAC tournament, and the 2017 team was 10-5-3 and tied for third in the league playoffs. The Red Dragons were 12-5-3 in 2009, 11-6-3 in 2010, 12-6-2 in 2007, 12-9 in 2005 and 10-8-1 in 2006. Cortland has finished as SUNYAC tournament runner-up 10 times, in addition to its three league crowns, under Axtell’s guidance.
Axtell’s players have earned 103 All-SUNYAC honors, including one Player of the Year, one Offensive Player of the Year, two Defensive Player of the Year and two Rookie of the Year designations, along with 29 all-region, seven All-ECAC and three All-NYSWCAA awards.
Axtell is a 2002 graduate of Nazareth College, where (as Heidi Brown) she earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and was a starting center defender for the nationally ranked women’s soccer program. As a senior, she was named a second team All-American and the Empire 8 Player of the Year. A 2010 Nazareth Sports Hall of Fame inductee, she was a two-time all-region and three-time all-state and all-conference selection. She earned her master’s degree in sports science from the United States Sports Academy in the summer of 2005. She served as an assistant coach for the Red Dragons for one season prior to becoming head coach.
Axtell was also inducted into the Liverpool High School Hall of Fame in 2017.
Formerly Heidi Woodcock during her Cortland coaching tenure prior to 2016, Axtell and her husband Steve, the head coach of the Cortland men’s soccer team, live in Tully with their daughter, Allie, and Heidi’s two daughters, Mari and Kenzie.
Colby GayColby Gay enters his fourth season as an assistant coach on the Cortland men’s soccer coaching staff in 2025. In his three seasons on the staff, the Red Dragons have won two SUNYAC tournament titles and made three appearances in the NCAA Div. III playoffs. Gay was also a part of the coaching staff that garnered both SUNYAC and United Soccer Coaches Region 3 Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2023.
Gay came to Cortland in the fall of 2022 from the University of Dubuque in Iowa, where he served as an assistant coach from the summer of 2020 through the spring of 2022. He was part of the Spartans’ 2020 (Spring 2021) United Soccer Coaches Association Division III National Coaching Staff of the Year and the North Region Staff of the Year as the team finished 6-1-1 and won the American Rivers Conference title during a COVID-19 adjusted season. In the fall of 2021, Dubuque finished 13-4-1 overall and went 8-0 in league play.
A native of Milton, Vt., Gay coached at the Nordic Soccer Club in Essex, Vt., prior to his stint at Dubuque. He coached the Nordic 2007 Premier boys, who were ranked number-one in Vermont by GotSoccer. Gay also has coaching experience at Camp WInadu and the Summit Football Club. At Camp Winadu, he instructed 400-500 athletes for a seven-week program that fostered individual technical, physical and tactical abilities. For the Summit Football Club, Gay served as a volunteer coach from 2016-20, helping lead and coach the club’s technical academy that focused on developing player ball control and technique.
Gay is a 2020 graduate of Castleton University in Vermont, where he played soccer for four seasons from 2016-19. He was a captain and four-year starter at midfield, and he registered eight goals and nine assists in 70 games. Castleton won the 2017 North Atlantic Conference title and earned an NCAA tournament berth, losing 1-0 to eventual national champion Messiah in the opening round. Gay was an all-state player at Milton High School, where he served as a team captain and led the league in total goals scored.
