Contact Rich Ongaro
Rich Ongaro enters his fifth season as an assistant coach on Hawk Hill in the 2024 season.
In 2022, Ongaro oversaw a defensive unit that conceded just six goals in eight conference games, marking the stingiest defense in program history. Defender Garrett Lyons and goalkeeper Luis Ludosan both earned nods to the All-Conference team, helping the Hawks to the first back-to-back clean sheet performance against conference opponents. Ludosan manned the goal in all five clean sheets, sharing the best GAA in the conference at .75 goals per game. Ludosan ranked 10th in the country with a .823 save percentage.
Ongaro's first season saw the Hawks compete in the spring of 2021 after navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Ongaro was part of a Hawk squad that tallied an 8-9-2 record in 2021, including a 5-2-1 record in A-10 play that gave SJU a #3 seed in the postseason tournament. Ongaro helped newcomer Lars Haavie to Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honors after a 1.37 GAA and a 72.1% save percentage in his first year on Hawk Hill.
Ongaro replaced former assistant coach Pat Morris, who took a position as the newest men's soccer head coach at Penn State Abington after spending 10 seasons with the Crimson and Gray.
"I have known Rich for a few years, and I believe he will be a great addition to our coaching staff," said head coach Don D'Ambra. "He brings Division I coaching experience and will be asked to manage different aspects of our program. I am confident he will fit in well and introduce innovative ways to enhance our program."
Ongaro arrives on Hawk Hill by way of Fordham University, where he was an assistant coach with the Rams for the 2019 season. Ongaro worked directly with Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team goalkeeper Konstantin Weis, who finished the season ranked third in Fordham goalkeeper history in single-season minutes played (1,919) and sixth in single-season shutouts (7).
Prior to that stop, Ongaro spent a season as a volunteer assistant coach at Old Dominion University. Working with the goalkeepers, he coached Mertcan Akar, who earned Third Team All-Conference USA honors, while as a team, the Monarchs finished second in the regular-season standings for Conference USA.
Before joining the ODU staff, Ongaro was an assistant coach at both Rutgers-Camden and the University of Northwestern Ohio, where he worked with the women's teams.
A collegiate goalkeeper from 2012-15, Ongaro played his freshman year at VCU before transferring to Holy Family University for his final three years. He was a three-year starter for the Divison II school and collected nine shutouts and 191 saves throughout his three years playing for the Tigers.
Ongaro is a native of Columbus, N.J.
