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WRENTHAM - After five seasons of nothing but success at King Philip Regional High School, Warrior girls' lacrosse coach Mike Vitelli is stepping aside, having accepted a position as an assistant coach at Stonehill College.

"It is with mixed emotions that I leave King Philip," said Vitelli, who tendered his resignation to Athletic Director Steve Schairer this week. "It's been a great run, that's why it's hard for me to walk away."

Vitelli, a 1996 graduate from Stonehill, will serve under Katie Lambert, the head coach, who in her first season in 2008 directed the Skyhawks to a 14-3 record overall and a 10-0 mark in the Northeast 10 Conference, gaining the school's ninth consecutive league championship.

Vitelli is returning not only to his alma mater, but to the school where he nurtured his coaching tools, having served as an assistant coach with the women's lacrosse program from 2000-02.

"Katie was the senior captain when I was coaching there, so I had a relationship with her and she knew of the success that we had at KP," said Vitelli. "When this opportunity presented itself, it was too good to pass up. Lambert spent four seasons as the head coach at Merrimack before moving to Easton. "I'm going to a school where not only do they contend and expect to win the league championship every year, they expect to get to the NCAA's every year and challenge for the Division 2 championship," said Vitelli.

Vitelli directed the KP girls' lacrosse program to unparalleled success during his tenure. During the course of 100 matches, the Warriors compiled an 85-12-3 record.

The Warriors reached the MIAA Division 1-South Sectional Tournament title match twice, winning the championship in 2006. This season, KP compiled a 17-2 regular season record, gained the No. 4 seed for the Division 1-South Tournament and advanced to the semifinals.

During Vitelli's regime at KP, the Warriors produced some of the premier players in the Commonwealth, the Pasquantonio sisters - Kelly, an All-American at Merrimack, current KP senior Mary, who will join her on the Merrimack roster and Julie, at UMass-Amherst - along with the Cuozzo sisters, Allie and Caitlin both with Division III powerhouse Union College.

Vitelli will be involved with all facets of the collegiate coaching experience, including recruiting - from which he gained an extensive base during his five years in the Hockomock League.

Stonehill College graduates just two seniors from the 2008 roster and has commitments from 11 incoming freshmen.

"I love the school, I got married there and I took a lot of the principals and philosophy from there with me to King Philip," said Vitelli. "There are a lot of parallels between the programs.

"We went unbeaten in the Hockomock League for my five years and Stonehill hasn't lost a league match in 10 years. We contended for a state title every year and Stonehill gets to the NCAAs every year. A lot of the things that I learned at Stonehill, while I was a student and as an assistant coach, I brought with me.

"At both Stonehill and at KP, the emphasis is on winning."

The challenge for Vitelli now is to entice some of the high school players that he coached against over the past few years to consider Stonehill as their choice for a college, their choice to continue their lacrosse careers. "With the contacts that I've made through the years, playing the non-league schedule that we did and advancing far into the tournament, playing the Wellesley's, the Needham's, the Westwood's and having served as coach for the Mass. Elite Team, I hope that I can recruit a lot of good kids, maybe some of those KP kids."