Cal Poly Women’s Soccer announced Cal State Bakersfield’s Bernardo Silva as the new head coach of the women’s soccer program on Saturday.
Silva will replace former head coach Alex Crozier, the only coach in program history who retired after 30 years at the team’s helm.
“What I’m excited about is the opportunity to lead a program that’s going to compete for Big West titles every year and push for higher regional and national success,” Silva told Gopoly.com. “I believe that’s possible at Cal Poly and you see it being done with other sports here and I want women’s soccer to be part of that.”
In his second year as the Roadrunner head coach, Silva led Cal State Bakersfield in a historic 2024 season, as the Roadrunners set Big West program records in victories, goals scored and All-Big West honorees.
Under Silva, Bakersfield also advanced to the Big West championship in their first-ever appearance in the tournament.
On the way to the championship match, the Roadrunners took down three-time defending champions UC Irvine 1-0, then beat No. 1 seed and Big West regular season champions Hawai’i 3-0 in the semifinals.
In the finals, Bakersfield drew 2-2 with UC Santa Barbara in regulation before falling 8-7 in a penalty shootout.
Before becoming the head coach at Cal State Bakersfield, Silva served as a volunteer assistant on Cal Poly women’s soccer’s coaching staff under Alex Crozier in 2013.
In the following two seasons, he was an official assistant coach and recruiting coordinator on the staff, and in 2016, he became the program’s associate head coach.
“Working under Alex for those four seasons was pivotal for my career,” Silva told Gopoly.com. “He was a head coach that gave me a lot of autonomy to learn hands-on and grow in all the aspects involved with running a Division I program.”
Silva worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, in 2017, then joined the Sacramento State staff from 2018-2022.
Now, he will become the second-ever head coach of the Cal Poly women’s soccer program.
“Being the head coach at Cal Poly has been a dream job for me ever since I left,” Silva told Gopoly.com. “In my opinion, this is one of the best jobs on the West Coast.”