Lesley University

Cambridge, MA 02138

Massachusetts Northeast

Private Small Developing team

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Coaches

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Paul Vasconcelos

Paul Vasconcelos is in his 17th year as head coach for the women's soccer team at Lesley University. He is the program's all-time winningest coach boasting an overall record of 238-72-20 that included a mark of 108-3-1 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play before the team re-joined the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) in 2023. In their first season back in the NAC, he guided the squad to a perfect 6-0 mark in East Divisional play for the regular-season crown and 2023 also marked the 12th time (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023) in Vasconcelos' career that he was voted Conference Coach of the Year by his peers.

In the final season of the NECC, Vasconcelos and his staff guided the Lynx to their 10th NECC title in 2022 and returned to the NCAA Tournament. 2022 also marked the 11th time (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022) in Vasconcelos' career that he was voted Conference Coach of the Year by his peers.

Under his direction, Vasconcelos has turned the Lynx into a premier program in the region. He has compiled a .752 winning percentage which puts him in the top 10 winningest-active coaches at the NCAA Division III level and appeared in 13 straight NECC Championship games before moving to the NAC. From 2009 into 2016, his squad went unbeaten in 62 consective NECC games posting a 61-0-1 record over that stretch during regular-season play.

His teams have also excelled in the classroom as they are annually honored by the United Soccer Coaches with the Team Academic Award, a distinction that recognizes programs that compile a combined grade-point-average of 3.0 or higher.

In his first year on staff, the women's program made a remarkable turnaround, improving to 14-4-1 in the 2007 season and getting into the record books as the NCAA All-Time Most Improved Division III program in the country. As a result, Vasconcelos was selected as the 2007 North Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year.

He has now coached a total of 68 All-Conference players, including eight Conference Players of the Year, seven All-New England selections and five Conference Rookies of the Year.

Prior to his time at Lesley, he was the assistant coach at Milton Academy where he stayed on for just one season, before leaving to become the assistant coach at Emerson College. At Emerson he helped lead the Lions to their best record in the programs history in just his first year. He stayed at Emerson for three seasons, leading the Lions to two straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinals matches.

He holds a USSF National B License, KNVB Dutch Advanced License, NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma and Portuguese Level III. He also coached in the Massachusetts ODP system for over 10 years.

"My staff and I are dedicated to recruiting top flight student-athletes to come in and make an immediate impact to our already successful program,” said Vasconcelos on his role at Lesley. “We aim to be one of the elite programs for years to come."

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Will Lawler

Bill Lawler joined Lesley University before the start of the 2022 campaign as Head Coach of the Men's Soccer program.

Lawler, a 1998 Babson College grad, comes to Lesley from his alma mater where he served as an assistant men's soccer coach for the Beavers from July 2017 through the 2021 campaign.

In five seasons sat Babson Park, Lawler has helped the Green and White win a pair of NEWMAC regular season titles and conference tournament championships and NCAA Tournament berths in both 2019 and 2021. He also has helped recruit back-to-back NEWMAC Rookie of the Year award winners, Liam Hanlon '21 and Ryan Grund '22.

Lawler came to Babson after spending a decade as the head coach at both Rivier University (2011-16) and Daniel Webster College (2007-10). He led the Eagles to a pair of NECC Tournament championships and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2010 before moving across town and helping the Raiders post their most victories since 2001 in 2016.

No stranger to Babson, Lawler served as an assistant on head coach Jon Anderson's '75 staff from 1998-99 and again in 2003. He also spent time as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College (2000-01, 2006), George Mason University (2002), and Skidmore College (2005). Additionally, Lawler served as the head coach at Manhattanville College in 2004 and guided the Valiants to 12 wins and an appearance in the ECAC Metro Tournament final.

A two-time all-conference goalkeeper fat Babson, Lawler ranks fourth all-time in save percentage (.859), and posted a 0.94 goals against average, 14 clean sheets and a 24-8-4 overall record from 1996-97. He helped the Beavers win two league titles while going unbeaten in Constitution Athletic Conference (CAC) play. Lawler also was named most valuable player as Babson captured the 1997 ECAC New England Tournament championship.