PISCATAWAY, N.J. (March 1, 2010) – Rutgers head men’s soccer coach Dan Donigan announced the addition of hall of fame coach Charlie Inverso to his staff. Inverso recently completed a 24-year stint as head coach of the men’s soccer program at Mercer County Community College (MCCC).

“Charlie has an amazing background in the game,” said Donigan. “His reputation, knowledge, contacts and professional attitude will be invaluable to our program.  I am thrilled to have Charlie on board with Rutgers.  He has been a leader in the game of soccer for many years and it will be a huge benefit to our team to lean on him for his expertise.

“Charlie is known not just in the state of New Jersey, but nationally because of his work with MCCC and the United States youth national team programs.  His accomplishments are well documented and I feel very fortunate to have Charlie be a part of Rutgers soccer.  Charlie will play an integral role within our team and our program. I feel very good about our coaching staff and I am thankful to our administration and Rutgers University for their support of Rutgers Soccer moving forward.”

Inverso was the longtime head coach at MCCC where he compiled a 434-46-14 record en route to winning five national championships. MCCC won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I title in 1988, 91, 95, 96 and 2004. He took 18 squads to the national tournament, including a run of eight-straight seasons from 2001-08.

Four times, Inverso was the NJCAA Coach of the Year and he was inducted into NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2006.

During his 24-year tenure at the helm of the MCCC program, Inverso’s former players have enjoyed impressive success. Nearly 130 of his former players have graduated from MCCC and gone on to play soccer at their transfer schools. Over 40 former players have become college or high school coaches and 16 former players have played professionally.

Prior to MCCC, Inverso was an assistant coach at Princeton University from 1980-85. He serves as a staff coach for the Region 1 Olympic Development Program and as goalkeeper coach for Under-14 and Under-16 U.S. National soccer teams. He also instructs at various soccer camps and clinics.

As a player, Inverso was the goalkeeper of the 1974 Notre Dame High School (Lawrence, N.J.) Parochial ‘A’ state championship squad and went on to be a standout player and captain at Trenton State College (TCNJ), where he earned BS and MS degrees in Physical Education.

Inverso and his wife, Lynne, live in Robbinsville, N.J., with their daughter, Hailey, and son, C.J.