Hall of Fame
Ranieri was a two-year starting midfielder/defender for the men’s soccer team back when the Red Dragons played in Div. I. During his career, he was an All-Conference selection in 1981 while playing for a squad that won the ECAC Div. I New York Tournament in 1980. He was also selected to the 1980 and 1981 Mayor’s Cup All-Star Team.
Ranieri spent his playing career as the team’s top marking back, which meant he had the extremely tough job of marking the opposing team’s top player out of the match. As a marking back, his highlight came in the 1980 ECAC championship game where he shut down three-time All-American and first round NASL draft pick, Richard Chinapoo of LIU.
Ranieri’s name is synonymous with the game of soccer in the greater Oneonta area. For 22 years he has been the director of the highly successful Headwaters Soccer Camp that annually hosts over 1,000 youths every summer. He also served as an assistant with the men’s soccer program and currently is the Associate Head Coach for the women’s soccer team at the college. Along with his wife and current Director of Athletics, Tracey, they built the women’s program into a perennial national contender highlighted by a national championship in 2003.
