Former Altoona Area High School all-state goalie Joe Alianiello has proven to be as effective as a head college coach as he was on the field.

In addition to his standout play at the scholastic level, Alianiello, a 2003 graduate of Saint Francis University, was the starting goalie for the Red Flash for four years and is still ranked in the top five all-time goalies at St. Francis for shutouts, save percentage and goals against average.

As the head coach at the University of Minnesota at Crookston, he is developing a team he took over as cellar dwellers into extremely competitive contenders climbing higher each season. After a slow start this season, Alianiello led his Lady Eagles to the most wins ever in a season, most conference wins ever in the NSIC and was able to beat perennial regional powerhouse Minnesota Duluth for the first time in school history. The team also earned its third consecutive NSCAA Team Academic Award.

Alianiello started at Minnesota-Crookston in 2012 with only 15 players. Just before taking over the program, it had experienced a two-win season, scoring only nine goals the entire season and giving up 54 while finishing dead last in the conference. Although one of the smallest schools in its conference playing in Division II, over the past three years it has finished in the playoff race for a shot at the league title, playing in one of the most competitive conferences in the nation.

Alianiello’s team will return 18 women next season, and it is shaping up to be their strongest season yet.

He would like the opportunity to move closer to his roots in Pennsylvania, but currently he is focused on helping his team grow and meet goals they have set for the year to come.

Alianiello said he was very grateful for the people in the Altoona AYSO who helped him and the organization grow, and the Altoona Soccer Club pioneers, who enabled him to play in competitive Sunday travel leagues, particularly coaches and league officials Gil Barton, Jim Fee, Terry Horton, John Miller, Don Herlan, Herk Yingling, Bill Furjanic, Tony Alianiello, Barry Bimbi, Moe Taylor, Dave Alexander, Rick Madera, Judy Roberts, Reed Nale, Linda Irvin and Bill Wilson.

He has made soccer his lifelong passion, and with the success he has achieved this early in his career, it is hard to tell how far that road may take him.

Elsewhere:

n On the scholastic front, the state’s all-time leading girls points scorer, Alyssa McGhee of Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic, will continue her career at Saint Francis University. The three-time all-state selection who led her team to back-to-back District 6 Class A championships should be an excellent addition to the Red Flash squad. Her incredible speed, coupled with her ability to handle and shoot the ball equally well with both feet, is a rare commodity to find in a player and will enable her to grab playing time early in her collegiate career.

n As the indoor soccer season begins to draw to a close, the reaction from playing with the new futsal ball in the Summit Indoor tournaments and leagues has been very positive. The lower bounce of the ball and greater control mirrors the outdoor game much better than the traditional rubber tennis ball-style indoor ball. The touchline format in play has also seemed to be popular because of the control and ball skill factors involved. Look forward to seeing even more of this style in next year’s indoor season.

Tom Schmitt writes a monthly soccer column for the Mirror.