St. John Fisher University

St. John Fisher University Athletics
3690 East Avenue Rochester, NY 14618

Division 3 New York Northeast

Private Small Developing team

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Coaches

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Jack Burgasser

Following a national search, Jack Burgasser became the seventh coach of the St. John Fisher men's soccer team in January 2020. Burgasser wasted little time moving Fisher up the ranks as the Cardinals won the Empire 8 Championship in 2020 for just the second time in program history. The first-year coach was named the Empire 8 Coach of the Year as Fisher led the conference in scoring average and was among the top teams in the Empire 8 defensively.

In 2022, Burgasser earned his second Empire 8 Coach of the Year award as the team claimed the no. 1 seed in the Empire 8 Conference Championship with a 6-2-1 conference record. However, the season ended in a penalty shootout against Utica University. In 2021, the Cardinals finished 6-7-4 overall and 4-3-1 in conference play and entered the Empire 8 Championship tournament as the no. 4 seed. After winning the opening round game, Fisher fell to the No. 1 seed Nazareth College in penalties.

Burgasser, who has deep ties to the Rochester area and Western New York, brings over a decade of experience coaching at an elite level including the last six seasons at the University of Rochester where he served as an assistant coach since 2014. During his tenure, Rochester developed into one of the premier programs in Division III. In all, the Yellowjackets qualified for the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship five times over the last six seasons and advanced to the second round or better four times overall.

Under Burgasser’s direction, Rochester posted a 14-4-3 mark in 2017 en route to the team’s first appearance in the Elite 8 since 2009. The team followed up that historic campaign with the most successful season in program history after marching to the Final Four and finishing the campaign at 16-3-2. Rochester’s 16 wins tied a program record for the most wins in a single season.

Burgasser, who was a part of 67 wins at Rochester, was directly involved in the recruitment and development of 27 All-Conference honorees and two All-Americans.

Prior to his time on the U of R sidelines, Burgasser was part of the men’s soccer program at Hobart for three seasons where he helped lift the Statesmen to three winning seasons and an NCAA Championship berth.

He spent two years as a graduate assistant at The College at Brockport where he helped coach the Golden Eagles to a State University of New York Athletic Conference title in 2009 and back-to-back NCAA qualifications as well.

Furthermore, Burgasser has also coached at the youth soccer level for the last six years with the Empire Revolution Soccer Academy, working with boys U-16, U-17 and U-18 teams. He holds a U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) "C" license and an NSCAA Goalkeeper Level II Diploma.

A 2009 graduate from Brockport with a Bachelor’s degree biology, Burgasser was a member of the Golden Eagles’ soccer team for four seasons and was elected as team captain.

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Joe Balls

Joe Balls has been a member of the Cardinals’ coaching staff since being hired as an assistant in the spring of 2020. Balls assists with all aspects of the program including scouting, recruiting, match preparation and training.

During his time, Balls has helped the Cardinals post an overall record of 19-13-8 and lifting the Empire 8 Championship in spring 2021.

Balls also coaches at the youth level with Rochester NY FC Youth. He’s worked with a wide range of ages from U9 all the way up to U18.

As a player, Balls was a standout midfielder in which he started 55 of his 61 career games, with 44 of those appearances coming as a Cardinal. He received two all-conference nods during his career. He’s also played for Roc City Boom and helped lead them to a top-16 national ranking in 2022.

Balls graduated from St. John Fisher University with a degree in Business Management.

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Ian Caspersson

Coach Caspersson is heading into his third season with the Cardinals as an assistant varsity coach and head reserves (JV) coach.

During his time at Fisher he has contributed to the Empire 8 Championship win in 2020 (Spring 2021 due to Covid-19), E8 Coaching Staff of the Year in 2020 and 2022, regular season titles in 2020 and 2022, and has built a talented, competitive, and winning reserves program.

Caspersson’s commitment to the reserves squad has drastically improved the program through recruitment, development, philosophy, and principles of play - elevating the team, in its second year, to a winning record of 6-2-1. The 2023 season sees this highly respected, confident and passionate, reserve squad face a very strong twelve game schedule - adding Hobart and Elmira to it’s list of competitors.

A veteran in the coaching scene, Caspersson has more than 15 years’ experience as a youth club coach, currently coaching U15 boys for Northeast Rush. He also spent seven seasons as the head varsity girls’ soccer coach with the Bloomfield Central School District. While at Bloomfield, Caspersson completely rebuilt the program. In 2016, the team captured a Finger Lakes Class, League, and Division title. Prior to that, Caspersson was named the 2015 Finger Lakes League Coach of the Year after turning the program into one of the top teams in the region.

A four-year member of the men’s soccer program at Alfred University, Caspersson also had a successful career as a player at Holley High School where he helped lead the team to back-to-back New York State Championships in 1990 and 1991. As a result, Caspersson was named Second-Team All-Greater Rochester in 1991 as a goalkeeper.

A graduate of Alfred with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design, Caspersson has earned numerous coaching licenses and diplomas - including the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) National “C” License, the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Advanced National Diploma (formerly NSCAA) where he is also a member, and the ISPAS Level-2 Applied Performance Analyst Accreditation.