Apollo-Ridge grad Emily Bonelli making most of opportunities for Pitt-Greensburg

By: Jeff Vella
Monday, October 18, 2021 | 6:00 AM

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Soccer competition was never far away for Apollo-Ridge graduate Emily Bonelli growing up.

She had a full-size goal that her dad built in her backyard. And she had a future Division I goalie living under the same roof: older sister Megan. Another older sister, Sarah, also went on to play collegiately.

“My dad would say, ‘Come on, you have to go take shots on Megan,’ ” said Emily, who is five years younger than Megan and eight years younger than Sarah. “My oldest sister and I, that’s all we did in the summers.”

All the practice is paying off. Emily has 10 goals and two assists in nine games as a freshman forward for Pitt-Greensburg (11-2, 3-1 Allegheny Mountain College Conference). She has taken only 19 shots, putting her shooting percentage at .526.

“She finishes almost every opportunity,” Pitt-Greensburg coach Chuck Wigle said. “You give that girl a little bit of space and a seam and she gets that shot off, there’s a high percentage it’s going in.

“When she shoots the ball, her shoulders are square, her weight is behind that ball, and when she comes through it, the ball flies off her foot. She’s a gifted scorer.”

Bonelli has missed the past four games with a sprained right ankle but expects to be back soon. Despite the gaudy numbers, she has started only two games because the Bobcats also feature senior Tiffany Michalek (15 goals, six assists) and junior Ashley Lucas (nine goals, five assists) up front, and the team starts two forwards. Coming off the bench has been an adjustment for Bonelli, a four-year starter at Apollo-Ridge who had 20 goals and eight assists as a senior.

“It was weird,” Bonelli said. “I got into college, and I was like, ‘Whoa, wow, I really have to step up my game.’ … That was a big change. It wasn’t a bad change. It caught me off-guard a little bit. I’m working harder toward it.

“I try to work really hard in warm-ups and practice so my coach sees that I deserve it. Every time I’m out there, even if it’s for 15 minutes, I try to make it my hardest 15 minutes, try to show why I should be out there longer.”

Her attitude has remained upbeat, Wigle said.

“She’s had a really positive impact,” he said. “She’s one of the first kids off the bench cheering and screaming anytime somebody scores.”

Bonelli’s season was highlighted by a four-goal effort against Medaille on Sept. 18, a game in which she recorded 10 shots. She also scored twice against Wilson on Sept. 5 — her first collegiate start — and two times against Franciscan on Sept. 27.

“My teammates have set me up with such great balls,” Bonelli said. “All the assists they’ve gotten for me have been such great balls: through the defense, slots back to me, crosses.”

Bonelli captained the soccer, basketball and track and field teams at Apollo-Ridge, but she said she always knew what sport she would pursue in college, especially because of her sisters. Megan, the 2016 Valley News Dispatch Athlete of the Year, went to Marshall, and Sarah played at D-II Lock Haven.

Their mom attended Pitt-Greensburg, which was a factor in Emily choosing it.

And even though the sisters don’t spend their summers shooting in the backyard anymore, they still enjoy competing.

“We just spent a whole vacation together this summer for the first time in a really long time, and we played Uno,” Emily said, “and I think I sent one of them out crying because we’re that competitive.”