Lexington Sporting Club makes a unique coaching hire as part of playoff pursuit
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lexington Sporting Club named Masaki Hemmi as the head coach of its pro men’s soccer team.
- Hemmi was previously the head coach of Lexington’s pro women’s soccer team.
- Hemmi also has prior experience as an interim head coach in the USL Championship.
Lexington Sporting Club has made a distinct head coaching change with an eye toward finding more success with its professional men’s soccer team.
Last month, LSC announced Masaki Hemmi — who previously served as the head coach of Lexington’s professional women’s soccer team — would move over to the men’s side to lead the club’s pro team in the USL Championship, which is the second-highest tier of men’s professional soccer in the United States.
Hemmi, who is from Japan, becomes the fifth men’s team head coach (including interims) in LSC history. He replaces Terry Boss, who oversaw the team during the 2025 season. LSC has failed to make the postseason in all three of its seasons. Lexington played its first two seasons in USL League One, the league directly below the Championship, before moving up a level last season.
Kosuke Kimura — a longtime friend of Hemmi’s who was an assistant coach for the LSC women’s team — will take over as the head coach of that side.
“For me, there is an opportunity to help the club in a massive way,” Hemmi said last month during a joint press conference with Kimura. “Also at the same time, sustaining top talent at this club. Both women’s and men’s, equally important to have a successful club in this situation, and we were able to make moves to keep both of us really to lead the charge.”
LSC leadership clearly took note of the success Hemmi enjoyed in recent months with the club’s women’s side.
Lexington finished in last place in the Gainbridge Super League — a pro women’s soccer league that was formerly known as the USL Super League — during its debut 2024-25 season. Following Hemmi’s arrival, and after an offseason full of roster improvements, the team’s fortunes have turned around.
With the league in its winter break, Lexington sits in second place with a 5-0-9 (W-L-D) record. Hemmi oversaw one of the league’s most prolific attacks (28 goals scored) and its best defense (only 13 goals conceded) in his 14 matches in charge.
Now, he will look to bring that same winning culture to LSC’s Championship team.
“I think the challenge is, obviously, I’m coming in as a new head coach for them,” Hemmi said. “I take pride in getting the best out of the people in the organization, not only the players, but staff. Shifting that culture to be really player-centered, and making sure that we’re getting the best out of players.”
Hemmi’s past coaching experience spans both the men’s and women’s games. He was previously an interim head coach in both the National Women’s Soccer League and in the Championship. Hemmi’s past coaching credentials also include time spent as an assistant coach in the top league of Japanese women’s soccer and for an NCAA Division I men’s soccer program at the University of Denver.
In a past life, Hemmi worked as a petroleum engineer before a part-time job coaching youth soccer in Colorado led him down his current path.
“I have experience coaching USL Championship as an assistant, as a director of player personnel, as an interim head coach. So I’ve seen a lot of different challenges that people face,” said Hemmi, who played college soccer at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of New Mexico. “I think having that experience with what I learned on the women’s side, and putting them all together to tackle this season, I’m very excited about.”
There are already plenty of building blocks in place for Hemmi with LSC’s men’s team, which narrowly missed out on the playoffs last season.
The club has already announced several roster moves for Hemmi’s first season in charge, including the return of top goalkeepers Logan Ketterer and Brooks Thompson, forward Marcus Epps (five goals and four assists last season) and defender Joe Hafferty, who led LSC last season with 2,545 minutes played.
Additionally, Lexington’s offseason signings have included Aaron Molloy, an elite midfielder, as well as defender Arturo Ordonez and forward Phillip Goodrum. Both Goodrum and Ordonez previously played for in-state rival Louisville City.
“There’s a lot of games in a calendar year,” Hemmi said in noting a challenge that comes with playing in the Championship. “I think the players are improving year by year, but it’s high competition, game by game. You have Open Cup games and (USL) Cup games. So, I think just making sure that sustaining players’ health and mentality throughout the whole season is a good challenge to have with a good culture.”
Hemmi also will strive to build on increased fan support. Lexington played its entire 2025 home schedule at the Lexington SC Stadium, the club’s soccer-specific home near Interstate 75. In July, LSC hosted a record crowd of 8,252 spectators for a match against Louisville City in the USL Cup.
Lexington’s season opener in the Championship next year will also be a home match against LouCity on March 6. LSC will travel to LouCity for a USL Cup match July 11.
“We’ll have a locker room full of people that are really hungry to win championships,” Hemmi said. “(The) really exciting part is, it’s almost like starting from scratch, if you will, to build something very special here.”
