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 | Hometown: Lewiston, ME. |
| Position: ODU Coach 1984-89 |
Mike Berticelli came to Old Dominion in 1984 and during his six-year tenure as head coach, the Monarch soccer program exploded on to the national scene. His teams compiled an impressive 76-27-16 record, with two conference championships, six conference final appearances and the school's first NCAA Division I tournament appearance.
The native of Lewiston, ME., Mike Monarchs reached the Sun Belt Conference Championship game every year. The Monarchs won the league title in 1987 and 1989. The 1987 team was 14-3-2, defeating South Alabama in the championship.
In 1989, the Monarchs were 10-4-4 and again defeated South Alabama for the SunBelt Championship on a shootout. ODU earned their first NCAA Tournament appearance at Wake Forest that same year.
In 1985, the Monarchs were 16-1-3, beating top ranked Virginia, 1-0 in Charlottesvilleand tying Rutgers. ODU lost to South Florida in a shootout for the Sun Belt title.
Four of Mike's student athletes earned Conference Most Valuable Player honors.Chris Haywood in 1987, Sean Crowley in 1988, and Rick Jenik in 1989 in the Sun BeltConference. Neil Paynter eanred Co-MVP honors in the CAA in 1991. Both Crowley andPaynter are members of the Old Dominion Sports Hall of Fame.
Berticelli was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 1984. His Monarchswere ranked in the nation's top twenty in each of the last five seasons with the highest comingin 1986 at number ten. ODU knocked off two number one ranked squads, beating Virginia in1985 and Evansville in 1986, both coming on the road.
Before arriving at Old Dominion, Mike was a highly successful coach at UNC Greensboro, where he coached the Spartans to three NCAA Division III National Championships. Mike was named head coach at Notre Dame in 1990 and he passed awayin January of 2000.