VESTAL, N.Y. – Binghamton women's soccer has added Kelly Severini to its coaching staff, the program announced Monday. Severini will join associate head coach
Chris Hall on head coach
Neel Bhattacharjee's staff beginning in mid-April. She replaces Taylor Van Fleet, who departed in January to become head coach at Le Moyne.
"Our program is excited to be bringing Kelly on to staff," Bhattacharjee said. "She brings terrific experience from her collegiate background as well as her professional playing. Throughout the process her infectious spirit and passion for the game and developing student-athletes was evident and impressive. Kelly will be a tremendous influence in many facets within the program and we are thrilled she will be joining the Bearcat family soon."
A native of Union, N.J., Severini has several soccer ties to the Bearcats during her career. Most recently, she played professionally for Matera Citta dei Sassi Women in Matera, Italy. Binghamton is in the midst of its international trip to Italy, where the team will have a chance to meet up with Severini, who is completing her playing season.
As a collegiate midfielder/defender, Severini played for Hartford in the America East and then played two seasons at Big Ten power Michigan State before finishing her career at University at Buffalo. She was a Dean's List student at all three institutions and was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2022-23.
"It's truly a privilege to join the Binghamton coaching staff," Severini said. "It's clear that Neel, Chris, and the student-athletes have built a championship-caliber environment with ambitions to accomplish even more. I'm eager to give back to the collegiate game—this time from the sidelines—and to step into this role in whatever capacity the program needs. I'd like to thank Neel and his staff for trusting in my ability to help elevate the program, and I'm excited to get to work as we continue raising the standard!"
Severini was an America East first team all-conference and all-region defender as a freshman at Hartford in 2021. She scored four goals and collected 11 points during the campaign, which took her to the Bearcats Sports Complex for a game against the Bearcats in October. At Michigan State, she helped the Spartans win two straight Big Ten titles and reach the NCAA third round in 2023. As a sophomore, she notched her first career point with an assist in MSU's 2-0 home win over Binghamton. Severini closed her career at fellow SUNY Center Buffalo, where she started all 20 games and tallied three more goals from the midfield ranks.
Her coaching experience has included leading the ODP 2014 Girls team in New Jersey and serving as head coach at the Princeton Soccer Academy.
Severini began her competitive career as a three-time all-county player at Union High School in northeastern New Jersey. She was a UCGSA All Star Top-16 as a senior and played for the NJ Stallions, ranked in the top-ten among clubs in New Jersey.
She joins a Binghamton soccer program that has been the most successful in the America East over the last four years, with three regular-season titles and just three combined conference losses. This past fall, the Bearcats (10-2-5) set records with a 13-game unbeaten streak (8-0-5) and just one regular-season loss. The team produced a second unbeaten conference season in the last three years. In the last four seasons, the Bearcats are 20-3-9 (77%) - the highest win percentage among all America East members.
