May 22, 2006

Chicago Names Scott Wiercinski Head Men's Soccer Coach

CHICAGO -- University of Chicago Director of Athletics Tom Weingartner announced today the appointment of Scott Wiercinski as head men's soccer coach, effective July 1, 2006.

Wiercinski has spent the past five years as an assistant men's soccer coach at Brown University. During that time, Brown compiled a 41-31-13 overall record, won three Ivy League Championships, and made two NCAA Division I postseason appearances.

A 1999 graduate of Middlebury College, Wiercinski was a four-year letter winner and two-time All-New England Small College Athletic Conference goalkeeper for the Panthers. He helped lead Middlebury to a 48-10-3 overall record and four NCAA Division III tournament appearances from 1995-98.

In 2000, Wiercinski served as an assistant coach at Bowdoin College, where he helped guide the Polar Bears to a 14-2-2 record -- the best in the program's history.

“The men’s soccer coaching position at the University of Chicago is a perfect fit with my academic and professional experience as a player at Middlebury and coach at Brown and Bowdoin," said Wiercinski. "I was attracted to the position because of the University’s educational philosophy and tradition of playing soccer at the highest level.  I feel very comfortable recruiting and coaching the type of student-athletes who have made the Chicago program successful.”

"Scott Wiercinski is the product of an extensive national search who knows and understands high-level Division III soccer as well as coaching and recruiting for a selective university playing top-level Division I soccer," Weingartner said. "He has been affiliated with excellent soccer programs, understands how to recruit quality student-athletes, and is committed to the Division III model of excellence in both the classroom and on the playing field."

Wiercinski replaces John O'Connor, who notched a 113-74-17 (.596) record and guided the Maroons to three NCAA Division III tournament berths from 1995-2005. O'Connor accepted the head coaching position at the University of Rhode Island in March.