May 19, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Mike Berticelli, a former two-sport athlete at the University of Maine-Farmington and head coach of the University of Notre Dame men’s soccer program since 1990, will be inducted into the Maine-Farmington Sports Hall of Fame on June 25.
Berticelli, a native of Lewiston, Maine, and a 1973 graduate of Maine-Farmington with a bachelor of science in English, was a four-year member of the men’s soccer team as a goalkeeper and captained the squad in his senior season. He obtained a master of science in physical education from the University of Maine at Orono in 1976.
Berticelli has been a head coach in the collegiate ranks at four different schools for the past 23 years, and since his inaugural season in 1976 at Thomas College in Waterville, Maine, Berticelli’s teams have compiled a 283-126-39 record for a .675 winning percentage.
He has coached 11 All-Americans during his 23-year tenure and has led his teams to seven NCAA tournament appearances. In 18 of those seasons, his squads also have earned top 25 national rankings. As head coach at the University of North Carolina Greensboro from 1980-83, Berticelli’s teams advanced to the NCAA tournament three times and won back-to-back Division II national championships in 1982 and 1983. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, he served for six years as head coach at Old Dominion University from 1984-89 where his squads posted a 76-27-17 record and earned an NCAA tournament berth in his final season.
Berticelli has led Notre Dame to three of the school’s four NCAA tournament appearances in 1993, 1994 and 1996. In nine campaigns, Irish teams under Berticelli have registered a 96-71-16 mark. In 1996, in just its second season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference, Notre Dame claimed the school’s first-ever men’s soccer tournament crown and earned the league’s automatic bid into the 32-team NCAA field. The Irish produced the tournament’s biggest upset in the first round when they defeated second-seeded UNC Greensboro for the school’s first-ever NCAA win. Berticelli’s teams in 1993 and 1994 also won consecutive Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament crowns.
In addition to his teams accomplishments, Berticelli himself has earned coach-of-the-year accolades on 11 occasions. He also has received the Presidential Award from the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1984 and was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Maine-Farmington in 1996. In 1997, he was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.
Berticelli has served on numerous national committees involving both the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and Intercollegiate Soccer Association of America.
He and his wife Cinda reside in Granger, Ind., with their two sons Nino (a 1999 Notre Dame graduate) and Anthony (a junior at the University).