Allegheny Names Michael Webber as Women’s Soccer Head Coach

Jul 12, 2005

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Allegheny College has announced it has selected Michael Webber to be its next women’s soccer head coach. Webber, who spent four seasons at Worcester State (Mass.) College, is replacing Paul Bonus, who resigned in May to return to graduate school.

Webber has been the head women’s coach at Worcester State since 2001, where he led the program to three conference tournament appearances in four years. In 2004, he led the Lancers to a 12-7-2 mark, tying the school record for single-season victories, including a win over 12th-ranked Lynchburg (Va.) College. Worcester also captured their first MASCAC tournament championship in school history to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Overall, Webber finished with a 33-31-5 record to finish as the second-winningest coach in Worcester State history.

Along with his women’s coaching duties, Webber was an assistant for the Lancers’ men’s team that won four conference titles during his time with the program. He was in charge of the goalkeepers, who allowed just 79 goals in 92 matches, a 1.1 goals-against average, and posted 34 shutouts during the last four years.

In addition to his collegiate background, Webber coached Sutton High School to a 53-22-8 record and a share of the 1997 state title during the four years prior to starting at Worcester State. For the last six years, he has coached the Sutton Fuller Hamlets in the Premier Division of Region 1 to four semifinal appearances in the State Cup.

Webber was quite familiar with the Worcester area, as he played and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross. A 1988 graduate with a degree in political science, Webber was a four-year starter in goal for the Crusaders. A three-time team MVP, he ranks first at the school in career and season save percentage and in career saves. Webber also ranked second in career goals against average and in single-season shutouts.

“I could not be more pleased that Michael will be taking over our women’s soccer program,” said Allegheny Athletic Director Larry Lee. “He has found great success at every level he’s played or coached at and it’s obvious from spending time with him over the past couple weeks how he’s achieved that success. I believe Michael’s not only going to be a great fit for our athletic department but also for the college and surrounding community.”

Webber also stated the Allegheny community was one of the main reasons he, his wife Tammy, and their two children were willing to make the move.

“I believe the Allegheny community is the perfect fit for myself and my family,” said Webber. “This is an institution with a strong background in academics and athletics, which shows in the type of student-athletes they recruit. And the coaching staff and the people I have met here are just unbelievable. I just can’t say enough about them and how they’ve welcomed us.”

At Allegheny, Webber will be taking over a program that has tasted national success very recently and contends every season for the NCAC championship. In 2004, the Gators finished 9-7-2 and in fourth place in the conference, the ninth consecutive season AC placed in the league’s top four.

Just one-year prior, Allegheny posted a 15-2-2 record, won the NCAC regular season title and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In the process, the Gators defeated two-time defending national champion Ohio Wesleyan University 3-1 to snap the nation’s longest winning streak at 60 matches.

“I know this is a program that has averaged over 13 wins a year over the last nine seasons and two years ago, was ranked 16th in the nation,” said Webber. “It’s up to myself and my coaching staff to attain our expectations, which is to graduate our student-athletes on time and give them a chance to compete for the North Coast Athletic Conference championship every year.”

The team that he will be taking over will have quite a bit of talent returning for Webber’s first year. Three All-NCAC selections, including two All-Region picks in senior forward Ashley Rogerson (Fairport, N.Y.) and senior defender Jen Bilec (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Mt. Lebanon) will be among the 22 returning letterwinners and eight returning starters that Webber will have his first chance to become familiar with during the team’s upcoming trip to England August 3-14.

“As far as talent-level, I know we have a lot of returners from a pretty good team last year,” said Webber. “I don’t really have a specific system that they have to adjust to, I just want to find out their strengths and weaknesses and go from there. This upcoming trip to England should give us a good chance to figure that out and get us on the right path towards having a good season.”

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