Scott Rissler - Women's Soccer Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Team - trophy - April 17 2021 v Ball State

Photo by: Isaiah Vazquez/BGSU Athletics

Scott Rissler

Title:
Women's Soccer Goalkeeper Coach / Camp Director
Email:
scottdr@bgsu.edu
Phone:
419-372-9602

Scott Rissler embarks upon his fourth season on the BGSU women's soccer staff in the fall of 2023. Rissler, who joined the Falcons early in 2020, serves as the team's goalkeeper coach as well as the camp director.

Rissler was hired by head coach Jimmy Walker in time for Walker's first season at the helm of the Falcons. Walker and Company took over a team that had won two consecutive MAC titles. The new coaches, at the helm of a program that was expected by many observers to win yet another title, barely had time to get to know their new team before everyone’s world changed due to the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.

But, when all was said and done, a season that was unlike any other ended just as the previous two seasons had ended – with BGSU capturing the MAC championship. The Falcons posted a 6-1-1 overall record and a 5-1-0 mark in MAC regular-season play in the spring of 2021, and BG downed Ball State in the conference championship.

The Falcons outscored opponents, 17-3, and all 11 starters return in the fall of 2021. The returning players accounted for all 17 of the goals and 10 of the team’s 11 assists in the spring. Nikki Cox and Madi Wolfbauer were named to both the All-MAC First Team and the United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team in 2020(-21). Lili Berg, Jasmijn Dijsselhof and Audrey Shea each earned All-MAC honors as well, while Berg and Kennedy White also represented the Falcons on the all-region squad.

Under Rissler's mentorship, Berg and the BGSU defensive corps helped the Falcons tie for first in the entire nation in shutout percentage (.750), with six shutouts in the eight matches. At the other end of the pitch, Wolfbauer led a balanced scoring attack with five goals.

In the classroom, a school-record 17 Falcons were named to the Academic All-MAC Team, and BGSU had an eye-popping 3.806 team GPA in the spring 2021 semester.

Then, in the fall of 2021, the Falcons repeated that success. BGSU went 11-7-3 overall and won the MAC regular-season title, posting an 8-2-1 league mark. The Falcons captured the MAC Tournament crown as well with a pair of shutout wins at Cochrane Stadium, advancing to the NCAA Championships yet again.

BGSU topped Buffalo, 1-0, in the league tournament semifinals, then downed Kent State by a 3-0 result in the championship match. The three-goal margin of victory was the program's largest in a MAC Tournament final in program history.

The fall 2021 season saw Wolfbauer named MAC Offensive Player of the Year, and Shea and Nikki Cox joined her on the all-conference first team, while Berg again was named to the All-MAC Second-Team.

Lacee Bethea was named the MAC Tournament MVP, with Nikki Cox, Shea and Wolfbauer joining her on the MAC's All-Tournament Team. Shea and Katie Cox earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, and Wolfbauer and Nikki Cox were named to the USC All-Midwest Region Team.

BGSU had a whopping 14 student-athletes named to the 2021 Academic All-MAC Team, and Nikki Cox was named a Scholar All-American by the United Soccer Coaches. Six different Falcons earned end-of-season honors from the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association (OCSA).

In 2022, BGSU finished the season with an overall record of 9-5-5 and a MAC mark of 6-2-3, good for third place in the 12-team league. The Falcons ended the season on a six-match unbeaten streak, and went 6-1-2 over the last month of the year. In those nine games, BGSU outscored the opponents, 21-4.

White was named the MAC's Offensive Player of the Year, with Maya Dean and Mackenzie Reuber joining her on the All-MAC First Team and Brynn Gardner earning MAC All-Freshman Team honors. BGSU led the MAC with three first-team all-conference selections.

White, Dean and Reuber all were named to the USC All-Midwest Region Team, with six Falcons earning CSC (formerly CoSIDA) All-District honors.

Dean went on to be named to the Academic All-America First Team, becoming just the second student-athlete in school history to be named to the first team. And, a total of 13 Falcons landed on the Academic All-MAC Team in 2022.

A native of York, Pa., Rissler played club ball for FC York beginning at age 14 before embarking upon a standout career at Red Lion High School. He played three seasons of high-school ball, before playing for the DC United MLS Academy team during his senior season. He also played two years of varsity baseball at Red Lion.

Rissler, who was the starting goalkeeper during each of his three years on the high school team, was the only junior goalkeeper named to the all-state team by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association in 2013, and was one of 21 players in the state named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com All-America Preseason Watch list in the fall of 2014.

A graduate of Duquesne University, Rissler studied forensic science while spending five seasons on the men's soccer team for the Dukes. He earned a Bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 2019, and went on to earn a Master's degree in forensic science and law in 2020. Rissler graduated Magna Cum Laude from DU.

Rissler's coaching experience includes working with the Duquesne goalkeepers in the spring of 2020. He also coaches an '07 girls team at Pacesetter Soccer Club in Sylvania, and has worked summer camps both at Duquesne and with DC United.

Rissler has an 11v11 Grassroots coaching license as a 7v7 grassroots license through US Soccer, along with a Level 1 GK License through United Soccer Coaches.