AMM 25TH ANNIVERSARY THEN & NOW SERIES: ANTHONY PELLICANO, HILBERT COLLEGE

Anthony Pellicano was a four-year member of the Hilbert College men's soccer program from 2013–2016. 

The Lockport, NY native returned to action on the sidelines as the women's assistant soccer coach at the start of the 2019 fall season before taking over a leadership role as the interim head coach during the 2020-21 Covid spring season. Pellicano was promoted to the head coach position prior to the 2021 fall season and guided the Hawks to the most wins in the program's last four NCAA seasons.
 
As a player, Pellicano started 42 games mainly on defense before shifting to the midfield his final season. The Hawks qualified for two AMCC post-season tournaments (2013 & 2015) as they went 16-47-3 during his time wearing the white and royal.  Hilbert picked up nine league victories and, after qualifying as the sixth seed both years, suffered a pair of one-goal defeats to the No. 3 seed in the postseason tournament.
 
Pellicano tallied his first Hilbert goal September 6, 2014 at Grove City after earning his first career point off an assist at Cazenovia seven days earlier.  The 5'7 senior earned second assist against Elmira in 2016 before he joined the men's volleyball team in the spring semester.  At the conclusion of the 2016-17 year, Pellicano was recognized as a North Eastern Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete having earned a 3.4 grade point average during that academic year.

Pellicano's contributions in practice and games played a role in the turnaround for the women's soccer program after he joined the staff in August 2019.  Hilbert went 1-13 his first fall and, under Pellicano's interim head coach leadership, the Hawks went 2-1 during the 2021-spring Covid exhibition game schedule.  The team improved to 4-9-1 (2-5-1 AMCC) in 2021 but several losses could have flipped into the win column.  The Hawks suffered three OT losses with four defeats falling by a one-goal margin.

Pellicano graduated in May 2017 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. 

He recently shared his feelings about his association with Hilbert College and the Athletics Department. "Attending Hilbert College was the best decision I made for myself both athletically and academically.  Playing soccer at the collegiate level was a goal of mine since I was 12.  I also knew by the time I was 16, that I wanted to be in Federal Law Enforcement in some capacity, making Hilbert the perfect choice.  Being on the soccer team all four years also peaked my interest in getting into coaching.  In 2019, when the women's team was looking for an assistant, I jumped right on it.  Being a head coach has furthered my career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has enhanced my public speaking and problem solving skills.  I attest my time as the head coach being one of the main reasons that I received a promotion with the FBI in Huntsville, Alabama.  I will sadly be leaving the program before the new year but I want to thank the players and my coaching staff for the hard work and success that we had this past fall."

The Then and Now Series is part of the AMCC's 25th anniversary where the conference will be recognizing current AMCC coaches and/or athletic administrators who are former AMCC student-athletes. The Then and Series will run every Tuesday throughout the academic year.