Western Oregon University Wolves

Michael Behonick enters year his third year as the Western Oregon men's soccer head coach in 2025 after a standout first two seasons in Monmouth.

Behonick for the second year in a row was named the GNAC Coach of the Year after leading a Wolves program in just its third year of existence to a myriad of program firsts, including: A GNAC championship, national ranking (ranked as high as No. 10 in the country), an NCAA Championship berth and an NCAA Championship victory when the Wolves defeated Point Loma 2-0 in the opening round before falling to top seed CSU Pueblo 3-2.

WOU finished the 2024 season ranked No. 23 in the country and 14-5-1 overall - making the Wolves 25-8-4 in Behonick's first two seasons at the helm.

The Wolves nearly swept the 2024 GNAC postseason awards along with Behonick's Coach of the Year honor as Andre Schlaefli was named GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, Caleb Kiner was named Newcomer of the Year and Marcus Vazquez was named Freshman of the Year. Yahir Ocampo Navarro, Ethan Fisher, Kiner and Schlaefli were named to the All-GNAC First Team while another four were named All-GNAC Honorable Mention: Vazquez, Jacob Garcia, Abraham Villalobos and Harper Neubeck.

Ocampo Navarro was named all-region first team by two organizations (USC and D2CCA) while Fisher, Kiner and Schlaefli were named to the D2CCA's all-region second team.

WOU finished the season in the top 20 in NCAA DII in these categories:

• Goal Differential (16th, Plus-25)
• Points Per Game (16th, 6.80)
• Scoring Offense (13th, 2.5 goals per game)
• Shot Accuracy (7th, 0.527)
• Total Goals (12th, 50)
• Total Points (13th, 136)
• Win-Lost-Tied Percentage (16th, 0.725)

Behonick in his first season in 2023 took a 2-13-2 team (1-10-1 in GNAC play) in WOU's inaugural season to 11-3-3 overall, including 8-1-3 in GNAC play - just short of a GNAC title. With games in the conference canceled this season due to inclement weather, the standings came down to points per match. WOU finished at 2.25 points per match with its 8-1-3 conference record, .02 points behind Simon Fraser's 2.27 with a 8-2-1 record.

Two Wolves (freshman Yahir Ocampo and junior Gabriel Silva) earned all-region and first team all-conference honors, one player was named All-GNAC Second Team (Andres Labate) and four more earned All-GNAC Honorable Mention honors (Juan Suarez, Alejandro Velasco, Harper Neubeck, Ethan Fisher).

Behonick in 2023 and 2024 was selected to be a coach at the Major League Soccer 2023 College Showcase in Phoenix - a showcase for the MLS SuperDraft.

Prior to WOU, Behonick spent seven seasons as the assistant coach for the Pitt men's soccer program. Behonick was instrumental in the remarkable turnaround and resurgence of the University of Pittsburgh men's soccer program in helping guide the Panthers to two College Cup appearances, three consecutive Elite 8 appearances, two ACC Coastal Division championships as well as four NCAA tournament appearances. He coached and recruited eight MLS Draft Picks, four All-Americans, four ACC Players of the Year and 37 All-ACC Honorees.

Along with his duties at the University of Pittsburgh, Behonick was also an assistant coach with the United Soccer League (USL) side Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The Riverhounds qualified for the playoffs in each of his 3 seasons with the club. He also helped coach Danny Vitiello to the Golden Glove award for having the lowest goals against average in the entire USL.

Prior to arriving in Pittsburgh, Behonick spent two years at Penn State while also spending five years at the University of Virginia as an assistant coach. 

During his time in Happy Valley, Behonick helped Penn State secure its first top-20 recruiting class in program history while signing all three high school All-Americans in the state of Pennsylvania that year. During his two seasons at Penn State, the Nittany Lions spent six weeks as the No. 3 team in country, while having one of the stingiest defenses in the entire country. Under the tutelage of Behonick, goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton was selected by the LA Galaxy in the MLS Superdraft.
 
In his five years at the University of Virginia, he helped guide the Cavaliers to five straight NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2013 NCAA College Cup. Virginia also reached the ACC semifinals or better in his five years with the program. Behonick helped bring some of the best players in the country to Charlottesville during his tenure. With each recruiting class he was involved in ranked in the top 15 in the country and having the No. 2 overall recruiting class in the country three times in that stretch.
 
Over the years, Behonick has served as an assistant coach with US Soccer's U16 & U17 Boys National team, as well as the US Paralympic National Team, helping them qualify for the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio. For the past four years, he served as a coach for the MLS Combine.
 
As a professional player, Behonick was a 2003 MLS Superdraft pick of DC United. Behonick went on to play professionally for seven years as a goalkeeper. He spent time with MLS clubs DC United and New York Red Bulls, USL side Puerto Rico Islanders and USL side Charleston Battery, winning a USL championship with Charleston in the 2003 season. Behonick also has a number of caps internationally as a member of the Puerto Rico National Team from 2008-10.
 
Behonick earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from American University in 2003. During his collegiate career with the Eagles, American University made two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances and won a 2001 Patriot League title. He was the only player from the Patriot League to be drafted in the 2003 MLS Superdraft.
 
Behonick holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) "A" Coaching License and a United State Soccer Federation (USSF) Goalkeeping License. 

A New York native, Michael resides in Corvallis with his wife, Lindsey Behonick, who is currently the head volleyball coach at Oregon State, and their two sons: Miles and Aiden. 

Alma Mater
American University, '03

Professional Playing Experience
2003 MLS Superdraft Selection of DC United (MLS), New York Red Bulls (MLS), Puerto Rico Islanders (USL), Charleston Battery (USL)

Prior to Western Oregon
University of Pittsburgh (2016-23), Penn State University (2014-16), University of Virginia (2009-14)
 

BEHONICK AT WESTERN OREGON
	OVERALL						GNAC						NATIONAL RANKING
YEAR	W	L	T	Pct	GF	GA	W	L	T	Pct	GF	GA	FINAL	TOP	POSTSEASON
2024*^	14	5	1	.725	50	25	9	3	0	.750	35	15	#23	#10	NCAA Championships (1-1)
2023^	11	3	3	.735	35	24	8	1	3	.792	26	16
TOTAL	25	8	4	.730	85	49	17	4	3	.771	61	31
* GNAC Champions ^ GNAC Coach of the Year

 

WOU SOCCER COACHING RECORDS

OVERALL

YEAR-BY-YEAR