Former Ohio Northern All-American Chris Matejka named interim head coach of the Men's Soccer program

By Tim Glon

ADA — Former Ohio Northern University All-American Chris Matejka has been named the interim head men's soccer coach at ONU.

Matejka has been an assistant coach for the Polar Bears for the past six seasons after graduating from Ohio Northern with a bachelor's degree in creative writing in 2013.

The Spencer, Ohio, native played in 96 games as a midfielder from 2009-12. He tallied 19 goals and 24 assists for 62 career points.

Matejka was named 3rd Team All-America and was the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Midfielder of the Year as a senior.

Matejka takes over a program with regional and national success. In Matejka's senior season, the Polar Bears finished as national runner up in the 2012 NCAA III Tournament with a school record 25 wins, a perfect 9-0 mark in OAC play and the OAC regular season and tournament championships.

"I am excited for the opportunity to serve as interim head coach at my alma mater," Matejka said. "It has been a wonderful experience to be a part of this program as a player and an assistant coach for the past 10 years. I am looking forward to helping us build on our previous successes. We have a great group of young men in the program who will begin preparations for the fall season." 

Brent Ridenour, the prior head coach of men's soccer at ONU, left the institution in May after 20 years in order to pursue other opportunities.

"We are happy to have Chris Matejka as the leader of our men's soccer program," ONU director of athletics Tom Simmons said. "We have had a great deal of success with our men's soccer program and are committed to our student-athletes now and in the future."

The program was started in 1975 and has an all-time record of 471-268-59, a winning percentage of .615.

The Polar Bears have won eight OAC regular season championships and seven OAC Tournament titles.

A national search for ONU's next head men's soccer coach will begin immediately.