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Scott Donnelly enters his first season as head coach of the SIUEmen's soccer program after taking charge in January of 2014. The2014 campaign marks Donnelly's third year with the Cougars, afterserving as the Associate Head Coach in 2012 and 2013. Donnelly is only the fourth head coach in the program’sstoried history, following Bob Guelker (1967-1985), Ed Huneke(1986-2007), and Kevin Kalish (2008-2013). “The opportunity we have here at SIUE issignificant. I’m honored to lead a program with ourhistory of success, and I intend to both continue our recentsuccess and accelerate our progress,” said Donnelly.“Soccer matters to SIUE, and to St. Louis as acommunity. I value that and we embrace that responsibility asa program. We've been nationally ranked in NCAA Division Ieach of the last two seasons. We have nationally rankedrecruiting classes, and elite student-athletes are coming to playhere from the top level of soccer in our country. We’resuccessful playing very strong schedules against other nationallycompetitive programs, and we've got good fan support at KorteStadium, our home venue here on campus. I am driven tocontinue this trajectory, and everyone inside our program iscommitted to it as well.” In his second season with SIUE in 2013, Donnelly helped guidethe group to a spot in the semifinals of the Missouri ValleyConference Tournament, and their second consecutive seasonappearing in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Division I nationalrankings. He was instrumental in the development of six MVCAll-Conference performers, including defender Matt Polster, who wasan All-Midwest Region honoree by the National Soccer CoachesAssociation of America (NSCAA) – his second consecutiveAll-Region recognition. The Cougars boasted one of the MVC'smost formidable defenses, allowing the second-fewest goals in theleague while posting six shutouts, and enjoyed a second consecutivecampaign in the national rankings, being ranked by both the NSCAAand College Soccer News. At the conclusion of the season,SIUE’s John Berner became the first American-born goalkeeperselected in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, as he was chosen with the35th overall pick by Colorado Rapids. During his first season with the Cougars in 2012, Donnellyhelped direct the program back into the national spotlight. The 2012 season was one to remember for the Cougars, who completedthe campaign with a 13-7-0 record, setting a program mark forsingle season wins in the current Division I era. Over thecourse of the 2012 season, SIUE was ranked as high as No. 22 in thenation in both the national rankings and NCAA RPI, while advancingto the MVC title game for the second time in three years beforenarrowly falling to No. 8 Creighton 2-1. In recognition of the program’s success, the SIUE staffwas named the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference Coaching Staff of theYear. Following the season, the Missouri Valley Conference honored anunprecedented total of ten Cougar student-athletes, including fourfirst team All-MVC selections, five second team All-MVC selections,the MVC Goalkeeper of the Year in John Berner, and one entry on theMVC All-Freshman team. Four Cougars were also selected to the MVCMen’s Scholar-Athlete team National recognition was close to follow, as four Cougars werehonored with selection to the NSCAA All-Midwest Region team (themost in the region), while Christian Volesky was named a Third TeamAll-American by CollegeSportsMadness.com. Ryan Bauer’saccomplishments on both the field and in the classroom wererecognized with his selection as an NSCAA Scholar All-American,carrying a 3.91 GPA in Physics and playing a key role for theCougars. Known nationally for his eye for talent, Donnelly’srecruiting prowess has yielded immediate results at SIUE, as theCougars’ 2013 recruiting class was recognized byTopDrawerSoccer.com as one of the best nationwide, holding the No.38 spot – making SIUE the only Missouri Valley Conferenceinstitution to be lauded. SIUE has now also been recognizedin two consecutive years with inclusion in College SoccerNews’ Top 40 Recruiting classes, as both the 2013 and 2014classes were recognized – again making SIUE the only MVCprogram to be recognized. Prior to his arrival at SIUE, Donnelly spent three seasons asthe associate head coach at Northern Illinois University. He alsopreviously served as the head coach for three years at NCAADivision II Mars Hill (N.C.) College, from 2007 to 2009. During his time at NIU, Donnelly played an integral role in leadingthe program to a record-setting 2011 season in winning theMid-American Conference Championship, a program-best 15 games, andadvancing to the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's SoccerChampionship. The Huskies were nationally ranked throughout theseason, reaching as high as No. 13 in the country, with RPIrankings as high as No. 16. NIU finished with a 34-20-3 mark duringDonnelly's term with the program and were nationally ranked in eachof his three seasons. At NIU, Donnelly coached four NSCAAAll-Region selections, eleven All-MAC, and eight Academic All-MACstudent-athletes. As the recruiting coordinator at NIU, Donnelly attracted awealth of talent for the Huskies through threenationally-recognized recruiting classes. His 2012 recruitingefforts at NIU yielded a class widely regarded as one of the bestin the nation. College Soccer News named NIU's 2010 class a"Top 40" recruiting class, and the 2011 class included NIU'sfirst-ever US Soccer Youth National Team player.
Donnelly's credentials include a USSF "A" License and the NSCAAPremier Diploma.
Donnelly graduated with a double major in English Literature andSpanish Language from the State University of New York, Geneseo in2002 and earned an MA in European History from Washington Collegein 2005. He played as a collegian at SUNY Geneseo and BinghamtonUniversity, as well as one season as a professional in the USL. |
