Women's Soccer
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- cissellc@umkc.edu
- Phone:
- 816-235-5309
- Alma Mater:
- 1994
- Graduating Year:
- 9 Years
- Hometown:
- William Jewell
Personal Life |
| Alma Mater: William Jewell, 1994 |
| Hometown: Liberty, Mo. |
|
Wife: Heather |
| Children: Mitchell, Trevor, Zachary, and Sophia |
|
Experience: 30th combined season (college men's and college women's) after 2019 season |
|
    Completed 21st season (college women's) |
|
    9 seasons (college men's from 2002-10) |
Coaching Record |
|
Kansas City: 102-63-22 (.604, 9 seasons) |
| 2019: 13-4-4 (.714) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4-2-2 (.625) |
| 2018: 16-5 (.762) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7-1-0 (.875) WAC Regular-Season Champion |
| 2017: 12-7-1 (.625) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7-0-0 (1.000) WAC Regular-Season Champion |
| 2016: 8-10-4 (.455) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3-2-2 (.571) |
| 2015: 14-6-1 (.690) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7-2-1 (.750) |
| 2014: 13-5-3 (.690) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 8-1-1 (.850) WAC Regular-Season Champion |
| 2013: 12-9-1 (.568) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 8-4-0 (.667) |
| 2012: 6-9-4 (.421) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3-4-1 (.438) |
| 2011: 8-8-4 (.455) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 6-2-1 (.722) |
| William Jewell College (Division II): 282-106-22 (.715, 21 seasons) |
|
    Women's Soccer Record (168-57-12) |
| Â Â Â Â Men's Soccer Record (114-49-10) Â Â Â Â (.688, 9 seasons, 2002-2010) |
| Men Overall: 114-49-10 (. 688, 9 seasons) |
| Women Overall: 270-120-34 (.677, 21 seasons) |
| COLLEGE OVERALL: 384-169-44 (.680, 30 seasons) |
Coaching Milestones at Kansas City |
| Win No. 1: 3-2 (OT) at Florida International, Sept. 2, 2011 |
| Win No. 25: 2-0 vs. Idaho, Oct. 25, 2013 |
| Win No. 50: 4-1 vs. Tennessee-Martin, Sept. 6, 2015 |
| Win No. 75: 2-0 at CSU Bakersfield, Oct. 13, 2017 |
| Win No. 100: 1-0 (OT) vs. California Baptist, Oct. 27, 2019 |
| Coached Game No. 1: T, 0-0 (2 OT) vs. Rockhurst, Aug. 19, 2011 |
| Coached Game No. 50: L, 2-1 at New Mexico State, Sept. 22, 2013 |
| Coached Game No. 100: W, 2-0 vs. UTRGV, Oct. 23, 2015 |
| Coached Game No. 150: W, 4-0 at Western Illinois, Aug. 26, 2018 |
| Coached Game No. 200: coached game No. 187 as final one in 2019 |
Coaching Honors |
| Ranked 35th on NCAA Career Coaching Active List (by percentage): .677 |
| Ranked 42nd (tie) on NCAA Career Coaching Active List (by wins): 270 |
| Ranked 65th on NCAA Career Coaching All-Time List (by win percentage): 677 |
| Ranked 59th (tie) on NCAA Career Coaching All-Time List (by wins): 270 |
| Ranked No. 1 at Kansas City in career wins (102), win percentage (.604) and games coached (187) |
| 2018 WAC Coach of the Year Award |
| 2017 WAC Coach of the Year Award |
| 2015 Missouri Male Coach of the Year by Community for Coaches |
| 2014 College Sports Madness WAC Coach of the Year |
| 2013 College Sports Madness WAC Coach of the Year |
| 2011 Summit League Coach of the Year |
| 2010 Heart of America Athletic Conference Men's Coach of the Year |
| 2010 NAIA Men's Midwest Region Coach of the Year |
| 2010 NAIA Men's National Coach of the Year Finalist |
| 2010 NAIA Women's Soccer National Coach of the Year Finalist |
| 2006 NAIA Men's Midwest Region Coach of the Year |
| 2006 NSCAA/adidas NAIA Men's Central Region Coach of the Year |
| 2006 NSCAA/adidas NAIA Men's National Coach of the Year |
| 2006 Heart of America Athletic Conference Men's's Coach of the Year |
| 2005 Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Coach of the Year |
| 2005 Heart of America Athletic Conference Men's's Coach of the Year |
| 2004 NAIA Women's Midwest Region Coach of the Year |
| 2003 NAIA Women's Midwest Region Coach of the Year |
| 2003 NAIA Women's Soccer National Coach of the Year Finalist |
| 2003 NSCAA/adidas NAIA Women's Midwest Region Coach of the Year |
| 2003 Heart of America Athletic Conference Men's Coach of the Year |
| 2003 Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Coach of the Year |
| 2001 Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Coach of the Year |
| 2000 Heart of America Conference Women's Coach of the Year |
Known for recruiting locally and winning with local talent, Chris Cissell instills a sense of family in the teams he coaches. He has had success on the field and takes pride in the performance his players show both on and off the pitch, coaching a total of 38 All-Americans and 46 Academic All-Americans throughout his career. His Kansas City team had a 3.63 cumulative grade point average heading into the 2019 fall season.
In 30 combined collegiate seasons (men's and women's) as a college head soccer coach, Cissell has compiled an overall record of 384-169-44, including a record of 270-120-34 in women's soccer alone (21 seasons), and 102-63-22 as the leader of the Roos (in 9 seasons).
Cissell finished his ninth season in 2019 in charge of the Roos. The squad finished 13-4-4 earning a No. 3 seed in the WAC postseason tournament. Kansas City rolled off five-straight wins near the end of the year and finished with the fewest losses (4) in program history. The 8-1-2 mark at Durwood Soccer Stadium tied for the most home wins in history. For the second-straight year, the Roos were ranked in the NCAA Pacific Region during the course of the year. They were listed twice -- at No. 9 on Sept. 3 and at No. 10 on Sept. 24.
The Roos got off to an historic start in 2019, going 8-1-2, which is the best in school history. They were undefeated through seven games, prior to their first loss in game eight on Sept. 17 against Creighton. Also on a historic note, the team posted it's 100th all-time victory on Oct. 20, 2019 in the 1-0 victory against Utah Valley.
Cissell led the Roos to back-to-back Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Regular-Season Championships in 2018 and 2017. Cissell was also honored with consecutive WAC Coach of the Year honors in those two seasons.
2018 was a very special season for the Roos as they compiled an impressive 16-5-0 overall record -- a school-record for wins in a single season - including impressive wins over Power 5, Big 12 opponents Kansas State and Iowa State. UMKC entered the prestigious Pacific Region Rankings for the first time in program history and climbed all the way up to 8th in the Pacific Region with all of the PAC 12 programs. The Kangaroos swept the 2018 WAC honors and awards coming home with Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. UMKC placed 5 players on the WAC First Team All-Conference Team and 1 player on the WAC Second Team All-Conference Team. Three UMKC student-athletes went on to earn Academic All-Region honors and we had our first-ever Scholar All-American honor. UMKC had a program record, Four student-athletes earn Pacific Region, All-Region honors and had a player earn Freshman All-American honors for first time in program history.
Hired to lead the program in 2011, Cissell took over a struggling program in just its third season as a Division I team. Entering the 2011 campaign, the UMKC program held an all-time record of 2-33-3. His presence was felt immediately, as he led the ‘Roos to a record of 8-8-4 and an appearance in the semifinals of The Summit League Conference Tournament, earning him The Summit League Conference Coach of the Year honors.
In the first season competing in the WAC in the fall of 2013, Cissell directed the team to a then-best record of 12-9-1 and took the team to an appearance in the WAC Tournament Championship, but fell to Seattle U in the final match. Leading the team to a program-best record, Cissell was named the College Sports Madness WAC Coach of the Year.
The winning trend continued in UMKC’s sophomore season in the WAC in 2014, where Cissell’s ‘Roos posted a 13-5-3 record, again a program-best, and found themselves runner-up in the conference tournament for the second season in a row. Cissell was again named College Sports Madness WAC Coach of the Year for his team’s performance in the 2014 season.
The Roos winning ways continued in 2015, as Cissell helped lead the team to another program-best in the wins column, accumulating 14, while also landing a player on the All-Region team three seasons in a row.
In the spring of 2015, Cissell was named the Missouri Male Coach of the Year by Community for Coaches, an organization known for helping coaches live out a transformational purpose.
Cissell was also named a finalist for the Kevin Gray Awards Adult Coach of the Year in the spring of 2015, which recognizes the top soccer players and coaches in the Kansas City area.
In 2017, Cissell led the Roos to a WAC championship with a perfect 7-0 conference record, earning the WAC Coach of the Year Award.
Prior to taking the reins of the Kansas City women’s soccer program, Cissell spent 12 seasons filling multiple roles for both the men’s and women’s programs at William Jewell College (WJC) in Liberty, Missouri.
Named the women’s head coach prior to the 1999 season, Cissell took over a WJC program that held an all-time record 9-91-2 in seven seasons. He quickly turned the program around, finishing 15-6-0 in his second season at WJC and 18-2-0 in his third season, including a conference championship and a Sweet 16 appearance in the national tournament.
With the men’s program struggling during the first three seasons of Cissell’s tenure at WJC with a record of 9-44-2, he was named Director of Soccer and also took over as the head coach of the men’s program. It took just two seasons at the forefront of the men’s program to lead the team to a conference championship.
In a total of 12 years at WJC, 12 seasons as the women’s head coach and nine seasons as the men’s head coach, Cissell accumulated a combined record of 282-106-22, took the women’s team as high as number three in the national poll and the men’s team to the number one spot for two weeks in 2007 on his way to eight conference championships and nine national tournament appearances including three trips to the final four. Those three trips, two with men’s and one with women’s, made him the only college soccer coach in history to take a men’s and women’s program that far in the national tournament.
In his time at WJC, Cissell earned numerous accolades, including seven Conference coach of the Year awards, four Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors, three National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Midwest Coach of the Year award, three-time National Coach of the Year finalist and one NSCAA/adidas Men’s National Coach of the Year award.
Prior to his illustrious coaching career, Cissell was a celebrated player on the pitch for WJC. He was a four-year starter from 1990-94 and was named the Team MVP his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Cissell was the team captain and earned first-team all-conference honors his junior and senior years, and was named the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Offensive Player of the Year his senior year.
Cissell held the WJC school record for career assists for 12 years (1994-2005) until his own player, Blake Ryan, broke the record in 2005.
William Jewell College honored Cissell in October 2015, inducting him into the WJC Athletics Hall of Fame as both a men's and women's soccer coach.
Cissell earned his B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in business administration from William Jewell in 1994. He is a Licensed, United States Soccer Federation coach and holds a National Soccer Coaches Association of America National Diploma.
Cissell and his wife, Heather reside in Liberty, Mo. with their four children, Mitchell, Trevor, Zach and Sophie.
