Carter Poe was named the fifth Head Coach of the Case Western Reserve University men's soccer team in May of 2020 and will be entering his sixth year in charge of the program in 2025.

For the first time in program history, Poe led CWRU to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons, guiding the squad to the Second Round of the Tournament in 2023 after a trip to the First Round in 2022. The Spartans ended the campaign with a mark of 10-3-4 and a 3-2-2 record in the University Athletic Association, defeating Hobart 3-2 in the first round of the postseason for the team's first NCAA Tournament win in five years. However, the season once again ended in a penalty shootout, with the team tying Cortland 1-1 in the Second Round. Poe mentored the second two-time All-American in program history in Matt Vatne, three CSC Academic All-Americans, and five All-UAA players. 

In his second full season at the helm of the program, Poe led the Spartans to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history, ending the season with a 10-3-4 record and 5-1-1 mark in UAA play, the best conference record in team history. The Spartans finished the season with a 0-0 double-overtime tie to Muhlenburg in the First Round of the tournament, falling in a penalty kick shootout. Poe mentored the fifth All-American in program history and the UAA Offensive Player of the Year (Matt Vatne), three All-UAA players, three All-Region selections, two CSC Academic All-Americans, and six total selections to the OCSA All-Ohio and Academic All-Ohio teams.

During the 2025 campaign, the Spartans went 5-5-6, maintaining a streak of three consecutive non-losing seasons under Poe. The team featured three All-UAA Second Team selections in seniors Lukas Dalakis and Kysen Kroeger and junior Bradley Winter.

In 2021, Poe guided the Spartans to a 6-8-2 overall record as the team played eight teams during the season that went on to qualify for the Division III NCAA Championship Tournament. CWRU produced one CoSIDA Academic All-American, two All-UAA honorees as well as four total selections to the OCSA All-Ohio and Academic All-Ohio squads.

Poe came to the CWRU after an outstanding five-year stint as the Head Coach of the University of Mount Union. He took the program over in 2015 after two seasons as the team’s assistant, guiding the squad to a 46-32-12 record, good for a .578 winning percentage. Included in that mark is a 23-8-6 record over his final two seasons at the team’s helm. He led the team to the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships in back-to-back seasons, while setting a school record for wins (13) and achieving the highest national ranking in program history (13^th) in 2018. The team qualified for the OAC Championship Tournament three-straight years for the first time ever, and he led 19 players to All-OAC honors and five to All-Region selections during his time with the team.

A native of Chesterland, Ohio, Poe is a graduate of West Geauga High School where he was an all-state player, serving as a team captain for two years and was a four-year letter winner. He went on to a standout collegiate career at Duquesne University, and his 79 career games played for the Division I team are the most in the program’s history. He was a two-year team captain, and secured Atlantic-10 Academic All-Conference honors in both 2011 and 2012. Poe was also an NSCAA Scholar All-East Region Honorable Mention as a senior.

Following his collegiate career, Poe went on to play for AFC Cleveland of the National Premier Soccer League from 2012-13, securing team Most Valuable Player honors in 2013. He took over as the team’s head coach in 2015 and 2016, guiding the squad to the 2016 National Championship, while piloting a roster which included former CWRU All-Americans Chris Cvecko and Vinny Bell.

Poe graduated from Duquesne in 2013 with his undergraduate degree in Middle Level Education, and received his Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of Mount Union in 2016. He has earned his United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma, Advanced National Diploma and National Diploma.

Poe File