Jacob Lissek (born August 17, 1992) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He played college soccer for

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University () is a private university with its main campuses in New Jersey, located in Madison / Florham Park and in Teaneck / Hackensack. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University offers more than 100 degree prog ...

, and set the Knights’ all-time career record for shutouts (26). After college, he was with

Charlotte Independence Charlotte Independence is an American soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that plays in the USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Independence currently play their home games at American Legion Memoria ...

Oklahoma City Energy Oklahoma City Energy Football Club, or simply Energy FC, is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. Although ...

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

(loan),

Penn FC Harrisburg City Islanders, known as Penn FC in their final season, were an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of th ...

, and

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

. Lissek won a gold medal with Team USA at the

2013 Maccabiah Games The 19th Maccabiah () were held during July 18 to 30, 2013. The Games brought together 7,500 competing athletes, making it the third-largest international sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. The Maccabiah he ...

in Israel.

Early and personal life

Lissek was born in

Highlands Ranch, Colorado Highlands Ranch is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The p ...

, to Dan and Ellyn Lissek, and is Jewish. He is tall.

Playing career

High school

Lissek attended Rock Canyon High School. In 2008, he and the school's soccer team won the Colorado 4a state championship. That season he was named second team all-league.

College

Lissek spent all four years of his college career at

(Management, '14) between 2010 and 2013, for the

Fairleigh Dickinson Knights The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights refer to the 17 intercollegiate sports teams representing Fairleigh Dickinson University's Metropolitan campus in Teaneck & Hackensack, New Jersey. Fairleigh Dickinson's Florham Campus has a different mascot, t ...

. Lissek played

, and the team won the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

(NEC) Championship and reached the third round of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Tournament in 2012. He holds the Knights’ all-time career record for shutouts (26). He was an

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-North Atlantic Region Third Team selection his junior year in 2012, when he had a goals-against average of 0.93, was NEC Player of the Week on September 3, 2013, and twice was a member of the NEC All-Tournament Team, and was the NEC Tournament MVP in 2012.

Professional

Lissek began his professional career with

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

side

when he joined on June 5, 2015. He was with them until March 2016. Lissek in March 2016 joined USL side

. He was with them until February 2018. On April 29, 2017, Lissek was loaned to

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

side

. Dallas made his loan permanent in April 2017. He was with them until February 2018. Following his release from Dallas, on February 15, 2018, Lissek signed for

. He was with them for one season, until January 2019, but did not make a first-team appearance. On January 30, 2019, Lissek joined

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

ahead of their inaugural season. Lissek made his professional debut when he started Hartford's first ever game, a 2–0 loss to

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in MLS Next Pro, the official reserve league of MLS. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional seaso ...

. He would be in goal for his and the team's first win, in a 2-1

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

victory over

New York Cosmos B New York Cosmos B were an American soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that played in the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system, as the reserve team of New York Cosmos. History ...

on March 15, 2019. Lissek was not re-signed at the end of the 2019 season.

Coaching career

In 2019 he also became the

Hartford Hawks The Hartford Hawks are the NCAA Division III athletic teams of the University of Hartford, located in West Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Overview Division III On May 6, 2 ...

' men's soccer team's goalkeeper coach at the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...

. In 2023, Lissek became the goalkeeper coach for the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

International

Lissek played for Team USA at the

in Israel. The team won the gold medal, defeating

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the final. Lissek was named the goalkeeper of the tournament.

References

External links

*
Fairleigh Dickinson bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lissek, Jacob Living people 1992 births American men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Hartford Athletic players Hartford Hawks men's soccer coaches Jewish American soccer players Maccabiah Games gold medalists for the United States Maccabiah Games medalists in football Competitors at the 2013 Maccabiah Games Sportspeople from Highlands Ranch, Colorado Soccer players from Douglas County, Colorado Fairleigh Dickinson Knights men's soccer players Charlotte Independence players OKC Energy FC players FC Dallas players Penn FC players USL Championship players Jews from Colorado 21st-century American sportsmen