When he played soccer for Hamline, Alex Morawiecki was voted the “Hardest Worker” on the team. When he played hockey for the Pipers, he was voted “Best Team Player.” The Winona, Minnesota native plans to put those attributes to his latest challenge as the new head coach of his alma mater’s men’s soccer program.

Morawiecki played three years of hockey and four years of soccer for the Pipers, graduating with a degree in psychology in 2006. He received a master’s degree in organizational management from Concordia University in 2009.He spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Division II school women’s soccer team. In his first season with the Golden Bears, the team set a school record for wins, including its first-ever post-season triumph.

HU athletic director Jason Verdugo pointed to Morawiecki’s past success at Hamline and solid coaching background as the key reasons for naming his choice to succeed Jon Lowery. “Alex was a key player on the first HU men’s soccer team to make the MIAC playoffs in 25 years (2005). He knows we can win here,” he said. “He has also coached at top notch Division I programs. We are very excited he is coming to Hamline. He is one of the bright young minds in the game today.”

In 2009, Morawiecki joined the men’s staff at Division I Northern Illinois, one of the top 25 teams in NCAA Division I. The next year, he moved to Xavier, where he spent two seasons. In 2010, the Musketeers had one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA history going 2-13-1 the year before to winning the Atlantic 10 Championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. They repeated as champs in 2011 and also earned the school’s first ever Top 25 ranking.

Before joining the Pipers, Morawiecki had been doing double duty – assisting at Schoolcraft College, a NJCAA Division I school and also serving as the head coach for a pair of youth teams with the Michigan Wolves-Hawks Youth Soccer Club.

"It is an honor to return to a very special place in Hamline as a member of the staff. As a student-athlete, my experience was rewarding and rich in growth in all facets: academically, athletically and socially," Morawiecki said. "As one of many proud alumni of this program, it is my goal to deliver the best possible experience for our guys while competing for MIAC championships. We will work hard between now and August to prepare for one of the most competitive Division III conferences in the nation.”

In addition to his collegiate experience, Morawiecki has advanced youth and national diplomas from the National Soccer Coaches of America.

"It's been said that the sign of a good coach is how much better and stable the program is than when he inherited it,” Verdugo observed. “Alex has been a member of staffs that have done that at three different universities. I'm confident that Alex will do that in his time at Hamline as well.”

Hamline University belongs to the NCAA Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, one of the most  competitive conferences in the nation. Hamline supports 19 intercollegiate athletic teams for men and women. Find out more about Hamline athletics at www.hamline.edu/athletics.

Creativity and innovation in teaching and learning are the hallmark of Hamline University—home to nearly 5,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students. At Hamline, students collaborate with professors invested in their success. They are challenged in and out of the classroom to create and apply knowledge in local and global contexts, while cultivating an ethic of civic responsibility, social justice, and inclusive leadership and service.

Hamline is the top-ranked university of its class in Minnesota, according to U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1854, Hamline also is Minnesota’s first university and among the first coeducational institutions in the nation.