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Jason Dowiak
JJason Dowiak was named the head coach of the Massachusetts women’s soccer program in 2017, and enters his sixth season in 2023. In just five years at the helm, Dowiak has led the program to 43 victories, hosted an Atlantic 10 quarterfinal match for the first time since 2011 and reached the conference semifinal in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2000.
In addition, eight Minutewomen have earned Atlantic 10 All-Conference selections in Dowiak’s time, 10 All-Rookie Team nods, the program’s first-ever A-10 Midfielder of the Year award winner (Jenny Hipp in 2018) and UMass’ first A-10 Offensive Player of the Year since 1999 and first A-10 Rookie of the Year since 1996 (Melissa Kössler in 2019).
UMass completed the 2022 season 5-9-5 overall and 4-4-2 in the conference play, reaching the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals. Graduate Student Lauren Bonavita tabbed Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team and All-ECAC Second Team honors, while earning an invite to the 2022 NEWISA Division I Senior Bowl. Nia Hislop was selected to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, as Ella Curry landed on the Atlantic All-Academic Team to cap off the year.
In the 2021 season, UMass held an 11-6-4 overall record, including a 5-3-2 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference, marking the first time since 1997 the program finished above .500 in four consecutive seasons. The Minutewomen finished fourth in the A-10, and were the A-10 Tournament Runner-Ups, while Ava Jouvenel, Fiona Kane, Ashley Lamond and Bella Recinos were tabbed to the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team. Kane and Lamond also earned placement on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team, and Lamond and Chandler Pedolzky garnered Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honors. The season marked the first time since 2000 that the Minutewomen reached the A-10 semifinals in three straight years.
During a COVID-19 shortened season in 2020-21, the Minutewomen went 6-5-1 overall and 5-2-1 in conference, marking the first time since 2001 that UMass has finished above .500 in three consecutive seasons. Paced by the play of Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team selection Jenny Hipp and Second Team honoree and co-captain Dani Sclafani, Massachusetts secured a spot in the conference semifinals for the second straight season, marking the first time since 2000 that UMass has reached the A-10 semifinals in back-to-back seasons. Massachusetts finished the year 50th in the NCAA in goals against average (0.72) and 44th in shutout percentage (.500) backed by the goalkeeping tandem of Bella Mendoza and Alyssa Chase.
Dowiak and the Minutewomen took major strides during his second season in 2019 with a 10-6-3 record, marking the first time since 2000 and 2001 that the Minutewomen recorded double-digit wins in consecutive seasons. Dowiak was also the first UMass head coach since Jim Rudy in 1998 and 1999 to win at least 10 games in each of his first two seasons.
Paced by Melissa Kössler, who became the sixth Minutewoman in team history to be named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year (first since 1999) as well as UMass' third A-10 Rookie of the Year selection in program history (first since 1996), the Minutewomen entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament thanks to a 6-3-1 mark in league play, its best finish since 2000.Kössler was also one of two UMass rookies to be named among the nation’s top 100 freshmen, according to TopDrawerSoccer.com.
In Dowiak’s first season at UMass in 2018, the Minutewomen went 11-6-1 to record their most wins since 2011, sparked by a 6-1-1 mark on the road in its best performance away from home since 2006. Massachusetts also had an eight-game winning streak midway through the year, the longest for the program since 1997.
Dowiak joined the Minutewomen after a successful five-year stint at South Florida where he served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.
The Bulls enjoyed a historic year in 2017 capturing their first-ever American Athletic Conference championship title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past four seasons. USF posted a 13-4-2 overall record marking the sixth consecutive year with 10-or-more wins – five of those with Dowiak on staff. Sophomore Evelyne Viens, who Dowiak helped recruit, earned All-America honors marking another first for the program.
Dowiak’s career in South Florida began during the 2013 campaign where he spent four years as an assistant coach before being promoted by head coach Denise Schilte-Brown to associate head coach. The Moorestown, N.J., native was named the recruiting coordinator in 2016 where he showed tremendous skill in bringing highly talented players to Tampa including two USYSA national champions, two high school players of the year, three junior college All-Americans and a CCCAA Junior College National Player of the year. His recruiting reach also extended internationally into Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Norway, Iceland and Haiti.
In his time at South Florida, he helped mentor 22 all-conference selections which helped build the Bulls into a nationally competitive program as evidenced by its program-best No. 14 ranking in 2016.
Dowiak, who played at College of Charleston for Ralph Lundy, served as an assistant coach for the FGCU women’s program from 2011-13 and helped guide the Eagles to their highest NCAA RPI ranking and first-ever Southeast Regional ranking. Dowiak was directly involved in all aspects of a program that won its first-ever back-to-back Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament titles and earned NCAA tourney berths in his two seasons on staff.
Before Dowiak headed to Southwest Florida, he was Anderson University’s women’s soccer head coach from 2007-2011 and helped the Trojans become one of the nation’s Top 20 Most Improved NCAA D-II Programs. Dowiak led Anderson University to a Conference Carolinas Tournament appearance in his first season and later helped the program reach its first conference tournament championship game. The Trojans also posted their best overall and conference record (12-9, 8-3) in school history under Dowiak.
Dowiak has remained busy outside of college soccer as the director of Bulls Soccer Camps and the Southeast Elite College ID Camps from 2014-17. Dowiak has been a staff coach with Florida’s Olympic Development Program and the technical director and ECNL coach at Tampa Bay United Rowdies Soccer Club since 2014.
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