SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University director of athletics Paul Lueken announced Thursday that Michael Bonelli, former assistant men's soccer coach at Wright State, has been named head men's soccer coach at SRU.

“We're very excited to have Michael come in and take over our men's soccer program,” said Lueken. “We feel that the success of the program in recent seasons, combined with his excellent credentials, will make for another exciting season this fall.”

Bonelli will take 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. After NU posted a 12-5-3 mark in 2007, 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. In the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats defeated Horizon League opponent Loyola and downed nationally-ranked Notre Dame and Akron before falling to eventual national runner-up North Carolina. NU finished the season with a top-ten RPI ranking for the second straight campaign and concluded the best two-year stretch in program history with a 27-10-6 mark between 2007 and 2008.

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. In 2006, Lafayette followed up on its championship season with another trip to the Patriot League finals, narrowly missing a return trip to the NCAA tournament, falling on penalty kicks in the conference finals. In 2005 and 2006, the Leopards compiled a 24-9-4 record, which ranks among the best two-year records in school history.

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.

Bonelli's only other head coaching experience came as the head coach at McGraw High School in McGraw, N.Y. He coached one season, leading the team to a 16-2-1 overall record and an unblemished 11-0-1 conference record en route to winning the school's first league title.

Bonelli earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from SUNY-Cortland in 2004. 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 owns a United States Soccer Federation “A” License as well as a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Advanced National Diploma. He will officially begin his duties at SRU in late June.