A weekly news report for Slippery Rock University
A weekly news report for Slippery Rock University
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Michael Bonelli
Michael Bonelli, former assistant coach at Wright State University, is Slippery Rock University's new head men's soccer coach.
Bonelli takes over a Rock program that is coming off its best season in school history, posting an overall record of 18-4-1, winning the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009. The Rock has posted 75 wins over the last six seasons, winning the PSAC title twice and appearing in the NCAA Tournament three times.
This will mark the first collegiate head coaching position for Bonelli, who spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at the Division I level.
Bonelli served as an assistant at Wright State last season, where he helped lead the Division I Raiders to a 6-10-1 overall record and a 2-5-1 mark in the Horizon League.
Prior to his time at WSU, Bonelli served two seasons as an assistant coach at Northwestern University (Division I, Big Ten), helping the Wildcats to a Top-10 ranking each of his seasons on campus.
The Wildcats opened the 2007 campaign with a 7-0-1 mark en route to a No. 3 national ranking, the school's highest ever. Bonelli helped lead NU to the program's best record in 2008, 15-5-3, as well as an appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight.
In addition, Bonelli contributed to the success of the 2008 season with a Top-25 nationally-ranked recruiting class, according to College Soccer News. NU was ranked No. 8 in the final College Soccer News Poll.
Before his two seasons in the Big Ten, Bonelli spent two years on the sidelines as an assistant at Lafayette College (Division I, Patriot League), helping lead the team to a Patriot League title and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005.
Bonelli made his collegiate coaching debut as an assistant coach at Division III Gettysburg College in 2004, where helped lead the team to 9-7-1 record while handling all recruiting efforts and assisting with all other aspects of the program.
He earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from SUNY-Cortland. Before graduating from Cortland, he attended and played soccer at Norwich University, where he helped lead the team to its first Great North Atlantic Conference Championship as an outside midfielder in 1999. Norwich earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament that season, also a first for the program.
Bonelli has a United States Soccer Federation "A" License as well as a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Advanced National Diploma.
