Email coach
Jaro Zawislan
Zawislan will enter his second season as the leader of the Le Moyne women's soccer team in 2023.
Le Moyne College Athletic Director Bob Beretta turned to a familiar name in Central New York soccer circles on August 3, 2022 when he selected Jaro Zawislan as Interim Head Coach for the Dolphins’ women’s soccer program.
He was named the permanent head coach of the women's soccer program following the 2022 season, during which the squad improved their winning percentage by 0.168 from the season before.
Zawislan (pronounced ZAV-is-lon) served as the head coach of Cornell men's soccer for seven years, leading the program to four consecutive winning seasons from 2011 to 2014, two seasons with at least 10 wins and an Ivy League Championship in 2012.
He is currently President and Technical Director of Syracuse FC, a minor league soccer organization with teams competing in the National Premier Soccer League and the United Premier Soccer League. In addition, Syracuse FC features a U-21 women’s team and a Youth Soccer Academy.
“We are thrilled to have Jaro lead our women’s soccer program this fall. He brings a wealth of college coaching experience and has excelled at the highest levels of the sport. He is a championship-winning Head Coach and a man of great character.
“Jaro is detail-oriented, incredibly organized and an excellent tactician. He possesses a thorough understanding of the game and will serve as a wonderful mentor and role model for our Student-Athletes. His Cornell teams played with tremendous discipline and effort. We expect the same from our Le Moyne squad under his leadership this fall.”
A native of Poland, Zawislan led the Cornell men’s team to a 55-41-23 overall record during his seven years at the helm of the Big Red, posting an impressive .559 winning percentage.
“I want to thank President Linda LeMura and Director of Athletics Bob Beretta for presenting me with this opportunity to lead the Le Moyne College women’s soccer program during the fall 2022 season,” Zawislan stated. “I’m looking forward to building relationships within our Athletic Department and across campus during the next several months.
“I couldn’t be more excited to work with our Student-Athletes and help provide them with a tremendous overall experience,” he added. “We’re excited to begin preparing the team for what we believe will be a highly successful campaign.”
Zawislan guided Cornell to a 6-6-5 record in his first year directing the squad in 2009. That season marked an impressive improvement from the 2008 campaign that saw the Big Red post a 1-15 mark. In 2009, Cornell also tied for sixth in the Ivy League standings at 1-3-3 in league play, an improvement over the 0-7 mark and eighth-place showing the season prior to his arrival.
But Cornell's growth under Zawislan was evident in more than just the team’s overall record. Cornell scored 20 goals in 2009, more than double the offensive output from 2008, and allowed 23 goals, well below the 43 goals conceded prior to his arrival.
In 2010, the Big Red recorded a 4-8-5 mark on the season, battling through a host of injuries to key players throughout the campaign. And while the Big Red scored 13 goals over the season, the defense continued to improve, allowing just 16 goals in 17 games, a drop of six goals from the year before.
The following year, Cornell finished over .500 (8-2-6) for the first time since 2001 and came within one goal of claiming a share of the Ivy League title for the first time since 1995. The Big Red’s offense scored nearly twice as many goals as it did the previous year in 2010, while Cornell was ranked in the national Top 25 for the first time since 2001 and had two players earn first team All-Ivy League honors at season’s end.
During the 2012 campaign, Cornell posted an impressive 15-2 overall ledger, claiming the Ivy League championship outright for the first time since 1977 and earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1996. Zawislan also oversaw Daniel Haber's Ivy League Player of the Year campaign as Haber led the country in goals per game and points per game in 2012 to become the first Ivy League Player of the Year in program history. Haber — part of Zawislan's first recruiting class — went on to become a First-Team All-American as well.
The Big Red saw four of its players earn All-Ivy First Team recognition and hosted an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since the 1980s, playing nearby rival Syracuse. Zawislan’s team was ranked as high as No. 10 nationally during the year. Additionally, goaltender Rick Pflasterer joined the Syracuse Silver Knights of the Major Indoor Soccer League at the conclusion of the season.
Cornell compiled an 8-5-4 record under Zawislan in 2013. For the second consecutive year, a Cornell Student-Athlete was named Ivy League Player of the Year as senior defender and captain Patrick Slogic earned the honor.
The Big Red featured a stellar defensive once again in 2014, allowing just 11 goals on the season, tying the program record, and earning a program-record 11 shutouts. As a whole, Cornell’s Class of 2015 posted the second-most wins (41) of any senior class in program history.
With the team's lone senior sidelined for the season with an injury, a young Cornell side battled to a 4-12-1 season in 2015, finishing sixth in the Ivy League at 2-5. Early in the season, the Big Red claimed the CU Inaria Cup for the fourth time in five years on a dramatic overtime win over Air Force. Though the young team struggled to find the back of the net, the squad's defense helped keep every game close, never conceding more than two goals in a game and allowing just one or fewer on nine occasions.
Prior to being named the 11th Head Coach in Cornell history, Zawislan served assistant coaching stints at Syracuse, Stanford and Creighton. Zawislan’s tenure at Syracuse was marked by his work attracting one of the nation’s Top 40 recruiting classes in 2003, according to collegesoccernews.com. A former standout goalkeeper, Zawislan also helped coach the Orange keepers to several of the top seasonal performances in program history.
Prior to his arrival at Syracuse, Zawislan coached at Stanford, serving as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s programs and goalkeeper coach for both squads. He helped the Stanford men’s team to the College Cup Final Four in 2001 along with its first Pacific-10 championship and best record in program history at 19-2-1.
Zawislan’s began his coaching career with a two-year stop at Creighton, helping the Bluejays to a national runner-up finish in 2000 and a Missouri Valley Conference championship. He led the Creighton keepers to a school-record 22 victories that season, one year after guiding Creighton's goalkeepers to the nation's best goals-against average in his first year with the Bluejays in 1999.
A stalwart between the pipes for Clemson during his collegiate playing career, Zawislan started every game over his four-year career (1990-93). He was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference and four-time All-South region selection, in addition to being named the Most Valuable Player of the 1993 ACC Tournament. He established school records for career saves (446), single-season saves (134), career wins by a goalkeeper (58) and career starts (88). He was also a two-time national All-Academic honoree.
Following graduation, Zawislan played professionally in the United States and Poland before beginning his collegiate coaching career at Creighton. He also coached the Nebraska Olympic Development Program’s (ODP) Open U-23 team and the Nebraska state ODP goalkeepers. His career also includes a stop as a player-coach with the Columbia Heat of the United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL).
Zawislan received a bachelor of arts degree in Computer Science from Clemson and also earned a bachelor of education from the University of Toronto in 1999. He added a master’s degree in Liberal Studies from Creighton in 2001.
Additionally, Zawislan holds a USSF “B” license, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) National Diploma and an NSCAA Goalkeeper Academy Diploma.
Throughout his stellar career on the pitch, Zawislan has been part of eight NCAA Tournament teams as either a player or a coach, including two Final Four appearances with Creighton and Stanford.
show more