April 15, 2008
ONEONTA, N.Y. - Hartwick College men's soccer coach Ian McIntyre filled his top assistant coaching vacancy with the hiring of Jukka Pekka Masalin, it was announced Tuesday.
Masalin brings a wealth of coaching and playing experience to the Hartwick men's soccer program. As a player, his professional; career has seen him travel to Germany, Sweden, and Finland before finishing in the United States. Masalin has successfully made the transition from playing to the coaching ranks and he has most recently served as the assistant coach for the Rochester Raging Rhinos of the USL-1. During his time with the Rhinos, he has been in charge of goalie training, as well as team fitness and speed training. Masalin also scouted, recruited and negotiated with players from all over the world and started the professional youth academy infrastructure in Rochester.
"I am very excited to have Jukka join our coaching staff and we welcome both Jukka and his wife Carmen into the Oneonta community," said McIntyre. "He is an outstanding coach with demonstrated leadership skills and he is a perfect fit for our athletic department and our Hartwick soccer family."
Masalin was active within the Finnish soccer community prior to coming to the United States in 1995. Between 1987-1993, he gained international playing experience as a member of the U-16, U-18, U-21 national youth teams for Finland.
In 1995, he embarked on his collegiate playing career at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., where he was a two-time all-Peach Belt Conference honoree. With Masalin on the roster, the Bearcats recorded a 60-19-3 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships once in 1996. Currently, he ranks third on the all-time Lander list for career saves with 302.
Following his collegiate career, Masalin remained at Lander and served as an assistant coach for the men's and women's soccer programs. During this time, he completed his bachelor's in Exercise Science in 2002.
After Lander, Masalin served as a media officer at U-17 FIFA World Cup in Finland for an eight month period. In 2004, he held various jobs within Atlanta, Ga., most notably serving as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Silverbacks for three years. During this period, he also was an assistant men's soccer coach at Reinhardt College and was the Soccer Director for the Decatur-DeKalb YMCA, and was a co-director for the Silverbacks' Youth Soccer Program.
