Brenda van Stralen
Head Coach - Fifth Season
(Franklin Pierce College '99)
Email Coach: bvanstralen@francis.edu  Brenda van Stralen heads into her fifth season at the helm of the Red Flash women’s soccer program with hopes on getting her team back to the Northeast Conference Tournament. Saint Francis’ all-time winningest women’s soccer coach, van Stralen has an experienced team returning in 2008 with 10 returning starters. She led the program to the conference tournament in 2005, but has missed the postseason each of the last two seasons by the slimmest of margins. But the foundation was laid for Saint Francis to be successful this season and in the future. Led by second team all-Northeast Conference defender, Denise Eckert, the Red Flash are looking to give their coach her fifth consecutive winning season in NEC contests. SFU finished 4-3-2 in league play last season, and has a combined record of 17-11-8 over the past four seasons. Prior to van Stralen’s arrival, Saint Francis has three all-time winning seasons in league play. By going 7-9-3 overall in 2007, the Red Flash just missed out on having a .500-or-better season for the third consecutive season. In 2005, van Stralen directed the Red Flash to its first-ever overall winning season, posting an 11-7-3 overall record, 5-2-2 in the Northeast Conference, on its way to the NEC Tournament for the first time since 2001. In her four seasons, van Stralen has had six all-conference selections and three ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honorees. In the summer of 2005, she coached the Pittsburgh-based Steel City Sparks of the Women’s Premier Soccer League, where she was named the league’s Coach-of-the-Year. The Sparks finished with a 7-3-3 overall record and advanced to the league’s championship tournament. The WPSL is the only national women’s soccer league in the United States and was rated the second-best women’s league in the world by the Women’s World Football Ranking Service. Prior to arriving in Loretto, van Stralen served as an assistant coach at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., for three seasons (2001-03). The Penmen posted an 11-5-4 final record in 2003 and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Southern New Hampshire ranked as high as fourth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s (NSCAA) New England Division II poll in 2003. A 1999 graduate of Franklin Pierce College, van Stralen also attended the Frans Hals College Sports Academy in Overveen, Holland from 1992-95. As a player, she helped lead Franklin Pierce to NCAA Division II national championships in 1996, 1997 and 1999, earning NSCAA first-team All-America honors in 1998 and 1999. van Stralen earned Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors at Franklin Pierce in 1996, and currently ranks 19th on the Raven’s all-time scoring list with 67 points (25 goals, 17 assists). A native of Holland, van Stralen competed on the Dutch National Team from 1994-95. She has coached the last three years in the Pennsylvania Olympic Development Program after spending five years in the Massachusetts ODP system. Also a five-year member of the Region I coaching staff, van Stralen has been a member of the Dutch Coaches Association (KNVB) for the past 11 years, where she holds the Oefenmeester (License III).
Marcelo Antonelli
Assistant Coach - First Season
(Campinas State University '99)
Email Coach: mantonelli@francis.edu Marcelo Antonelli enters his second season as an assistant on Brenda van Stralen’s staff, arriving in Loretto after several stops as a player and coach in Italy, England and Brazil. Most recently Antonelli served as a coach on the 2007 under-15 Brazilian champion futsal (indoor soccer) club, and played for the ASD Regalbuto club based in Regalbuto, Italy. Antonelli grew up playing soccer in his native Brazil’s regional leagues and futsal in the State Confederation representing his club, Guarani. He also played in his city (Campinas) Futsal selection, in the several competitions among cities organized by Brazilian government. In 1995 he was admitted into the physical education program at Campinas State University (Unicamp) in S‹o Paulo, Brazil. During his time there, Antonelli earned a job as the soccer team’s goalkeeper, and in his third year at the college, he became coach of the Unicamp Futsal team. After college he rejoined the Guarani Futebol Club in the capacity of physical trainer for the male team (under 16) and coach of the female team. In 2001 Antonelli traveled to Italy where he played professional futsal for five seaons, winning two Italian Cups. He was elected the best goalkeeper in league competition in 2004. During the off-season, he coached teams or worked in soccer schools, achieving important results in both Brazil and Italy. He also has coaching experience in London, where he worked with the Futsal Premier League and Soccer Skills Republic.
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