Steve Wieczorek, who has six years of Division I coaching experience at Siena and Duquesne, was added to the Oregon State men’s soccer staff as an assistant coach on June 9, 2014.
Last season at Duquesne, Wieczorek was responsible for working with the goalkeepers and coordinating student-athlete recruitment. On the pitch, the Dukes won nine games and advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinals. Duquesne posted its best overall record since 2009 and best conference record since 2006. Six players received A-10 postseason honors, including three selections to the league’s All-Rookie Team, and the squad was recognized for its work in the classroom with the NSCAA Team Academic Award.
With the Dukes, Wieczorek worked alongside head coach Chase Brooks, who served on Steve Simmons’ staff at Northern Illinois in 2005-06.
Prior to arriving in Pittsburgh, Wieczorek spent five years at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., serving the last two seasons at the Saints’ top assistant. During his tenure, the Saints enjoyed the best stretch of success in school history. They made four conference playoff appearances, set school records for conference single-season wins (7) and winning percentage (.857), and also secured the program's first-ever wins over nationally-ranked opponents.
At Siena, Wieczorek was responsible for extensive student-athlete recruiting. He brought in nine All-MAAC rookie selections, 13 All-MAAC Academic picks, five All-MAAC performers, three NSCAA Scholar All-Americans, five NSCAA Scholar All-Region players and three NSCAA All-Region selections. He also recruited two Siena College Male Rookies of the Year and two Lowe's Senior C.L.A.S.S. nominees. He mentored the first eight players to play professionally and helped to develop two MAAC Offensive Players of the Year and a MAAC Rookie of the Year.
Former Oregon State standout Emery Welshman, who starred for the Beavers in 2011 and 2012, started his career with Wieczorek at Siena. He was the 2010 MAAC Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year and the 2009 MAAC Rookie of the Year. At OSU Welshman was a two-time First Team All-Pac-12 selection, becoming the first Beaver to make the conference's First Team in back-to-back years since Robbie Findley made it three straight from 2004-2006. He was the first Pac-12 player selected in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, going 16th overall to Toronto FC.
Wieczorek monitored the academic progress of the squad at Siena, which in 2012 ranked 12th for Team GPA in NCAA Division I, while also achieving consecutive NSCAA Team Academic Awards. He conducted full team, functional and goalkeeper training sessions. He performed match analysis and assisted the head coach in practice planning and team selection. Wieczorek functioned as an assistant director of the Future Saints Academy, coordinated youth skills clinics, and performed the administration and daily operations of the program.
He would also serve as Interim Head Coach for the Saints in February 2013.
A 2004 graduate of Fairfield University, Wieczorek was a four-year letterman at goalkeeper for the Stags, leading the team to four MAAC Tournament appearances and two MAAC finals. Following graduation, he began his collegiate coaching career that fall at his alma mater as the goalkeepers coach.
From there, he accepted an assistant coach position at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut in 2006 where he helped the team reach the NCAA DII National Tournament, an NSCAA Top 25 ranking and the East Coast Conference final in 2007. While at Bridgeport, Wieczorek coached nine All-Conference and four NSCAA All-Region selections as well as the East Coast Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year, before moving on to Siena.
