RIVER FALLS, Wis. - UW-River Falls head men's soccer coach Evan Sassano recently announced the hiring of Bret Day as an assistant coach.

Day joins the UW-River Falls men's soccer program as an assistant coach for its inaugural season in the fall of 2024. He has previous collegiate coaching experience as a volunteer assistant at Division I University of St. Thomas during the 2021 season. For the past two years, he has been the head boys' soccer coach at Benilde St. Margaret's Senior High, where he and his staff accumulated a 21-10-4 record during his tenure.

"I am thrilled to have Bret on staff with us," Sassano commented. "We worked together at the University of St. Thomas, and he played an important part in our transition to NCAA D-1 competition. He is very well connected in the twin cities youth club soccer scene and is a very passionate coach. I know that Bret will bring a tremendous amount of value to the program with his coaching and mentoring. He has a bright future, and we are very excited to have him onboard."
 
Day has been coaching in the Minnesota club scene for 12 years at Fusion SC and Tonka Fusion Elite (TFE). Founded in 2017, Bret is one of the original coaches at TFE, a regionally and nationally competing club in the Twin Cities area. His club accomplishments include three Minnesota State Cup titles and a NPL National Championship in 2023 with TFE's U16 (07) boys' team. He also operated a soccer training facility for seven years which he recently moved on from to pursue collegiate coaching.     
 
As a three-sport athlete, Bret grew up in the western suburbs of Minneapolis, Minn. He played club soccer for Wings SC and Minnesota Thunder Academy along with being a three-year starter for Wayzata High School where he captained his senior year. As a defender, most of his high school and club career, he attended the University of St. Thomas from 2009-12, where he accumulated nine goals and six assists as a versatile edge player over his four-year career. He obtained a degree in Business Administration with a focus in Leadership and Management. Bret holds a USSF B coaching license.
 
He lives in Maple Grove, Minn., with his wife Rachel. They are expecting their first child in May of 2024.