BUTLER TWP — A neck injury derailed Trevor Monteleone's playing career.

His lacrosse career? That's still going strong.

Monteleone, 22, is one of the youngest head coaches of any varsity sport in the WPIAL. The 2014 Butler graduate is in his first year as head coach of the Golden Tornado boys lacrosse team.

“The job was open, so I figured, why not go for it?,” Monteleone said. “I had been an assistant for a couple of years and felt like I was qualified.”

Monteleone planned to extend his playing career to college as Wingate University had accepted him into its program. He sustained a neck injury while playing football for Butler in his senior year, however.

“At that point, I decided to call it quits,” he said.

Butler reached the Div. II lacrosse playoffs three consecutive years with Monteleone on the roster as a starting defender. When he decided to end his playing career, he enrolled at Slippery Rock University.

He is in his senior year at SRU, majoring in criminology.

Monteleone was an assistant coach under Mike Courteau the past two seasons.

“He was looking for some help, I was around and I knew the program well,” Monteleone said. “I learned a lot about the coaching end of things.”

Butler athletic director Bill Mylan said Courteau decided to give up the position due to work and family obligations.

“Mike just didn't have enough time anymore,” Mylan said.

But Monteleone did — and finding lacrosse coaches isn't easy.

Butler's girls and boys lacrosse teams both advertised for head coaches last off-season. Both received only two applicants.

“It's a tough sport right now because it's becoming more and more popular in the WPIAL, yet there aren't a whole lot of adults in this area who can coach lacrosse,” Mylan said.

“When Trevor applied ... Sure, his age was a concern in some respects. How is he going to handle dealing with parents, player discipline, things like that. But he sold me in the interview. If we didn't have confidence he could handle those issues, we wouldn't have hired him.”

So far, so good.

Butler is 9-5 on the season and has reached the WPIAL playoffs. The Tornado are sitting in third place in their section.

“I haven't had to deal with any parental issues and I'm grateful for that,” Monteleone said. “As for the players, I think my age helps me in that regard.

“I can identify with what they go through. I played this game myself not very long ago and I'm not much older than those guys. We have a good relationship and I believe they have confidence in me.”

Cody Bachman, the all-time scoring leader in Butler boys lacrosse, is one of Monteleone's assistant coaches. The other is Colin Parrington, who is from New York and is a fellow SRU stuident.

Connor Bachman, Cody's bother, leads the Tornado in scoring with approximately 30 goals. Ben and Luke Kranbacher, both injured recently, have close to 20 goals each.

Monteleone hopes to become a state policeman at some point. He plans to stay on as Butler's coach for a number of years.

“Work can always force a change, but I want to build a program here,” he said. “I love lacrosse, I love this school and I want to stay involved in the sport.

“We only have five starting seniors this year. We've got a solid junior and sophomore class. We're off to a good start.”