Saint Leo University

Saint Leo, FL 33574

Florida Southeast

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Coaches

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Ged O'Connor

Ged O’Connor returned to the Saint Leo sidelines in August of 2021. O’Connor spent the previous four seasons at NCAA Division I Troy University following 11 years at the helm of the Saint Leo Lions women’s soccer program from 2006-2016. O’Connor helped the Green and Gold capture the program’s two Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championships in 2008 and 2016 along with its’ pair of SSC Regular Season Championships in 2011 and 2016.

Fast Facts

Alma mater: Webber International

Seasons coached: 16 seasons

Coaching record: 162-121-24 (.527)

Seasons coached at Saint Leo (2006-2016): 13

Record at Saint Leo: 133-84-16 (.570)

Coaching History

O'Connor led the Trojans from Troy to a program record seven Sun Belt Conference victories in just his third year at the helm as he came just two points shy of capturing the first regular season Sun Belt Conference Championship for the program as the team went 7-1-2 in league play. O'Connor finished his time at Troy with a career mark of 162-121-24 including 133-84-16 at Saint Leo.

O'Connor took over as the Lions' head coach in 2006, leading the team to the most successful season in program history. Prior to taking the on the head coach title at Saint Leo, he served as an assistant coach for four seasons.

Before his coaching career took off at Saint Leo, he was a professional Irish dancer in 2001-02.

Personal History

O'Connor is a 1999 graduate of Webber International University where he was a starting goalkeeper for four seasons. He was named to the Scholar-Athlete All-Region team at Webber. O'Connor graduated with a 3.79-grade point average. During the summer of 1997, he was a member of the Runcorn FC Division 5 team in England, a semi-pro team.

O'Connor earned his MBA from Saint Leo University in May of 2004. He also now holds an NSCAA National Goalkeeping License Level II and an NSCAA Premier diploma. In addition, the Manchester, England, native is also a member of the NSCAA coaching education staff and the chairperson of the NSCAA Regional Rankings and South Region Committees.

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Arielle Kabangu

Kabangu, who was a four-year member of the Saint Leo women's soccer program from 2013-16, returned to her native Canada following her collegiate career and began working at My Place Home Care while also serving as a writer/researcher for AK Consulting which she has continued until being offered the position at Saint Leo. She returned to the Green and Gold in the Fall of 2021. Previously as Saint Leo student-athlete, she put together an impressive playing career which led to her being named the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Decade for 2010-19. She was a three-time NSCAA All-American while scoring 65 career goals and collecting 151 points. She was a six-time All-American when considering all the awarding organizations and was four-time All-SSC First Team selection. She was a two-time Player and Offensive Player of the Year award recipient including her freshman and senior campaigns. She also earned Freshman of the Year honors in 2013 marking just the second time in SSC history in which one player was named Freshman, Offensive and Player of the Year during one season.

Kabangu is the current Saint Leo record holder for career goals (65), career points (151), career shots (305), career multiple-goal games (18), single season shots (85) and single season multiple goal games (7). She helped lead the Lions to the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore in 2014 and then led the team in 2016 to the SSC Regular Season Championship, SSC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.

She graduated from Saint Leo University in 2017 with a degree in business administration.

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Brett Parker

Head Coach Brett Parker took over the reins of the Saint Leo men’s soccer team in 2019. The Covid-19 Pandemic has kept Coach Parker and the Green and Gold from limited competition. He enters the 2023 season with second year assistant coach, Nick Sakiwicz.

During the 2022 season, Parker and the Lions finished with notable wins over #8 Auburn Montgomery and #24 West Florida. Their final record was 7-9.

Fast Facts

Alma mater: Ottawa (KS), 2006

Seasons coached: 14

Coaching record: 143-91-24 (.554)

Seasons coached at Saint Leo: 3

Record at Saint Leo: 17-30-3 (.340)

Coaching History

Prior to Saint Leo, Parker guided his programs to 10 or more wins in 10-straight seasons on his way to putting together a 126-61-21 overall record, a .606-winning percentage. Parker has led his teams to seven NCAA regional tournaments, three quarterfinals appearances and one national semifinals appearance, which came this past season as the Tigers tied the eventual-National Champion Barry University, 0-0, before falling in penalty-kicks.

Parker was the first head coach at Fort Hays State and reached the NCAA tournament in seven consecutive seasons while putting together a 100-40-18 record at the helm of the Tigers over eight years.

In 2018, at Fort Hays State Parker, who was a two-time Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Coach of the Year (2017 and 2018), and his staff were named the Central Region coaching staff of the year by the United Soccer Coaches. He has coached six Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-Americans, two United Soccer Coaches All-Americans, 39 D2CCA All-Central Region selections, four conference players of the year, three regional players of the year and one D2CCA national player of the year in Santiago Agudelo.

Personal History

A Bozeman, Mont. native, Parker is a 2006 graduate of Ottawa (Kan.) University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology before going on to complete his Master of Science in Health and Human Performance at Fort Hays State in 2017. Parker played two years at Ottawa University where he was the 2006 First Team All-KCAC and Defensive Player of the Year while being selected as a NAIA All-Region IV player before going on to being named a NAIA Honorable Mention All-America.

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Nick Sakiewicz

Nick Sakiewicz joined the Saint Leo men’s soccer coaching staff in August of 2020. Previously, Sakiewicz coached at the NAIA and both the Division I and III levels.

Sakiewicz started his career as an assistant coach at Rosemont College (NCAA DIII), followed by a Director of Soccer Operations role at Villanova University (NCAA DI), and additional assistant coaching stints for Johnson & Wales University – Denver (NAIA), Guilford College (NCAA DIII), and most recently, Elon University (NCAA DI).

Beyond collegiate soccer, he has been on staff for the USA U-16 National Team, where he focused on opponent scouting and video breakdown. He has also served as a scout for the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer (MLS), where he developed opponent scouting reports as well as player identification of MLS prospects. Finally, he has club experience, coaching three club teams: Burling Soccer Club, Colorado Rapids, and FC Delco. Sakiewicz holds a National "C" License from the United States Soccer Federation.

His passion for the game stems for his own soccer career playing for West Chester University (Pa.), where he earned a psychology degree in 2014. Sakiewicz played two seasons with the NCAA Division II Rams before joining the New York Red Bulls Academy.