Ryan Sniegoski is in his fourth year as head men’s soccer coach at Florida Southern and is only the fifth man to hold that title in the 60-year history of the program. During his first two seasons at Florida Southern, Sniegoski has led the Moccasins to a 14-24-6 record. He began his duties at Florida Southern on January 7, 2013, after a highly successful 8-year run as an assistant coach at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, including his final three seasons there as the Monarchs’ top assistant under Alan Dawson. That gives the Massachusetts native a total of 11 years of college coaching experience spanning both the Division I and Division II levels.
After his arrival in Lakeland, Sniegoski immediately put his stamp on the program by bringing in a dozen new recruits for the 2013 season (10 freshmen and two transfers). With nearly half the roster made up of newcomers, the Moccasins more than doubled their win total from 2012, had their best finish in the Sunshine State Conference standings in 12 years, and qualified for the SSC Tournament for the first time in seven years. With two freshmen among the Mocs’ double-digit scorers, their scoring also increased by roughly half a goal per game, and the team goals against average fell by about the same margin with another freshman starting all but two games between the posts.
Another measure of how far the Moccasins came in 2013 were their results against the top teams in the SSC. The Mocs dropped a pair of 1-goal decisions to SSC regular season champion Saint Leo, and another to SSC Tournament champion Barry, a team they later tied in the tournament before being eliminated on penalty kicks. The Mocs responded well to some late-season pressure too when they went on the road to secure their spot in the SSC Tournament by playing to a 2-2 tie at Tampa and defeating Nova Southeastern 1-0 in their final two regular season games.
By the end of Sniegoski’s first year at the helm, Florida Southern had jumped four spots in the league table from where it finished in 2012. That equaled the greatest improvement in SSC history for any team that had finished in last place the previous season.
The tie at Tampa marked the Moccasins’ second positive result of the season against the Spartans after an earlier 3-0 win in a non-conference game. That win by Florida Southern came with UT ranked #11 in the country at the time, and it was the first time in 20 tries that Florida Southern beat a nationally-ranked Spartan team. That gave Sniegoski his first win over a top-25 opponent, but his first win as a head coach had already come in his first career game at Florida Southern. The Moccasins defeated Warner in that contest, 3-1.
Last year, in 2015, the Moccasins put together a remarkable in-season turn-around by going 4-2-1 during the second half of their schedule, and during that stretch posted shutout wins over Tampa (1-0), Rollins (5-0), and Lynn (1-0). It was the first time in program history the Moccasins defeated all three of those traditional SSC powers during the same season, with Rollins going on to win the SSC Tournament and finish as the South Region runner-up. Their three shutouts in conference play equaled the team record set in 1997, and their four total shutouts were the most in 10 years. The Mocs allowed just eight goals in their last seven games, with only SSC regular season champion Saint Leo doing better in the league.
While Sniegoski’s early recruiting classes continue to develop on the field, he’s also brought in a large number of student-athletes who get the job done in the classroom too. Over the last three years, the Moccasins have claimed a total of 47 spots on the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, with nearly two-thirds of their roster earning that academic honor in 2014, and 17 of their 25 players on the list in 2015.
At the national level, the Moccasins have been honored by the NSCAA with the Team Academic Award for each of Sniegoski’s first two seasons, and overall Florida Southern has been among the recipients of that award nine years in a row. Only one other Division II men’s soccer program has achieved that, but Florida Southern is the only one to be ranked in the top 20 for all nine of those years. Under Sniegoski, the Moccasins had a combined 3.40 grade point average for the 2014-15 academic year, which was fifth highest in the country.
Prior to his hiring at Florida Southern, Sniegoski had helped Old Dominion University go 96-45-19 in his eight seasons as an assistant coach. During that time, the Monarchs won 10 or more games seven times, earned six bids to the NCAA Division I Tournament, and picked up four NCAA playoff wins. The Monarchs advanced to the second round in both 2010 and 2011 before being ousted in the first round on penalty kicks in 2012. Their 2010 NCAA Tournament was highlighted by a 1-0 win over defending national champion Virginia. They also reached the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association three times in those eight seasons, and won the title in 2007.
During Sniegoski’s tenure at Old Dominion, the Monarchs also advanced to the round of 16 in both 2006 and 2007 during a pair of 14-win seasons, and were ranked in the NSCAA Top-10 for most of 2005, reaching as high as #2. In 2006, the Monarchs upset #10 North Carolina in Chapel Hill in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before they were eliminated by eventual national champion UC-Santa Barbara, 2-1. The following year saw Old Dominion win the Colonial Athletic Association championship, and again upset a higher seeded team on the road during the NCAA Tournament, this time knocking off fourth-ranked Brown in the second round.
In his eight years on the ODU bench, Sniegoski helped coach four All-Americans and two Freshman All-Americans in addition to several All-CAA selections. He also coordinated Old Dominion’s recruiting efforts, and planned and directed both coaching sessions and game-day tactics.
In addition to his work at Old Dominion, Sniegoski served as director of player development for the youth soccer program in Norfolk for 5-10 year-old boys and girls from 2006-11. From 2004-06, he served as the technical director for the Athletic Club of Norfolk, and for two years prior to that, was the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Old Dominion.
Sniegoski not only coached at Old Dominion, he played there too from 2000-03, serving as a captain for the 2003 team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He also helped the 2002 team qualify for the NCAA Tournament, which reached the second round as well. During his playing career, Sniegoski played in 52 games as a midfielder and totaled three goals and six assists. As a junior he was named to the Old Dominion/STIHL Classic All-Tournament Team, and his final collegiate goal came during the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament when the Monarchs fell to #2 Maryland, 2-1.
Sniegoski graduated from Old Dominion University in 2005 with a degree in early education, and later earned a master’s degree from ODU in physical education in 2007. He earned his USSF National “A” coaching license in 2012.
Ryan and his wife Elizabeth were married in May of 2012, and are the parents of one son, Lucas, who was born in 2014. Elizabeth was also a standout soccer player at Old Dominion.
updated June 1, 2016
