Courtesy of Brian Beard

Every win against Colby is a good win, but not every win is a milestone. Men’s soccer’s (8–2–5; 5–2–3 NESCAC) October 18 triumph over the Mules (4–7–4; 1–7–2 NESCAC), however, was one such win. The 3–1 victory was the 121st win for Head Coach Scott Wiercinski, making him the winningest head coach in the program’s history. In spite of the monumental achievement, Wiercinski hasn’t let it go to his head.

“It feels good when people [mention the record], but otherwise, it doesn’t feel a whole lot different,” Wiercinski said. “But I made a joke with a couple of the guys: it just means I’ve been here a long time, and that’s maybe a good thing.”

Wiercinski has been the head coach of men’s soccer since 2013. In his 14 years coaching the team, he led the Polar Bears to back-to-back NESCAC Championships in 2014 and 2015—the first conference titles in program history—and guided Bowdoin to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2022 and 2025, among other accolades. His extensive tenure has allowed him to make an impact on a plethora of Bowdoin soccer players, many of whom have since congratulated Wiercinski on the accomplishment.

“I think the best part of the whole thing was just hearing from so many of the alums that I’ve coached over the years,” Wiercinski said. “On that day, once it went public … I heard from an awful lot of the guys that I’ve coached over the years, and that was a pretty sort of cool opportunity to thank them, obviously, because they’re a bigger part of it than I am.”

The fanfare that followed the Colby game was unexpected for Wiercinski; in fact, he hadn’t been aware that he was on the cusp of breaking the 120-win-record, set by legendary former head coach Charlie Butt in 1984.

“A couple of years ago, I got 100 wins, and the team sort of celebrated it a little bit, and that was really appreciated,” Wiercinski said. “But I had no idea what the total number was for Charlie Butt. So for me, it was a total surprise and a welcome one.”

Wiercinski’s career is especially storied by the fact that he himself is a Brunswick native. Making history at Bowdoin is only a small part of what he’s achieved since returning to his hometown.

“I would say that as a kid growing up in Brunswick, I didn’t think that this is where I would live for the rest of my life,” Wiercinski said. “Now that I’ve been here a while, it’s been awesome. You know, I don’t feel like I work a day in my life.… To have my family or my son sort of experiencing the same upbringing that I had and all those kinds of things are just really kind of a cool full-circle moment.”

Before his 2013 homecoming, Wiercinski played soccer as a student at Middlebury College, then had a brief stint, in 2000, as the assistant coach for Bowdoin men’s soccer. He then went on to serve as an assistant men’s soccer coach at Brown University and, later, was the head men’s soccer coach at the University of Chicago. Wiercinski’s experiences as a collegiate athlete and coach have led him to where he is today.

“I think the biggest influence to be a coach was my coach that I had at Middlebury, David Saward ….,” Wiercinski said. “And I would say that I’m a much different coach now than I was at UChicago, or even in my first couple of years here.”

The coach Wiercinski is today has proven to be a good one; on Tuesday, with a 1–0 win over Tufts (9–3–3; 5–3–2 NESCAC), men’s soccer clinched the No. 3 seed for the upcoming NESCAC championship. The team this year has come a long way and has been an exciting one to coach, for Wiercinski.

“Every year is a little bit different than the previous year or the next year, but it’s really been great to see them grow in areas of being tough and resilient and gritty, especially for a young team,” Wiercinski said. “It’s been really rewarding, and obviously to be in the playoffs at this point is super exciting.”

With the Tufts victory raising his career total to 122 wins, it’s hard for Wiercinski to pick out favorites, but a few stand out. Alongside his 2014 and 2015 NESCAC Championship wins, Wiercinski recalls the victories that Tuesday’s win reminded him of.

“One [win] actually overlaps as we beat Tufts. I think it was in 2017 on a Tuesday, much like [this past Tuesday], with a real cast of characters that were not big players on the season…. They just performed incredibly well against the national powerhouse. And then we had to play [Tufts] again on the Saturday after advancing … and then we were able to beat them again on Saturday. A few of those alums were at the game last night, so we were sort of celebrating that,” Wiercinski said.

As well as being a joy to coach, the team that secured the record for Wiercinski has been a successful one too. Bowdoin will host a NESCAC quarterfinal versus Hamilton (6–4–4; 3–4–3 NESCAC) Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

“The season’s far from over, hopefully. And hopefully we can capitalize on some more energy and just keep it rolling, because it’s been a lot of fun so far,” Wiercinski said.