SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State men's soccer has hired Dominic Gillespie as the goalkeeper coach for the Bears, head coach Michael Seabolt announced today.

Gillespie makes his way to Springfield from West Virginia State University, a Division II school in the Mountain East Conference where he served as a women's soccer assistant coach and head development team coach since 2021.

"Dominic joins our staff after being at NCAA DII nationally-ranked WVSU as an assistant and interim head coach," Seabolt said. "He has also served as the goalkeeper coach for WV United in the USL2. He has an extensive goalkeeping background and came highly recommended by some of our peers. He has already hit the ground running and will be a great fit for our staff."

In his two years at WVSU, Gillespie helped lead the Yellow Jackets to a combined record of 28-10-3, including a 17-3-2 campaign last season that saw WVSU national-ranked in DII for the first time in program history. The Yellow Jackets maintained their ranked status all the way to their first NCAA DII Tournament appearance in school history. WVSU parlayed its appearance into its first-ever tournament win in the first round over Bloomsburg.

West Virginia State limited opponents to 19 goals across 21 matches while the Yellow Jackets scored 57 in Gillespie's final season in Institute, West Virginia.

Originally from Whitley Bay, England, Gillespie spent two years as the goalkeeper coach for Whitley Bay Football Club after his playing days in college.

Gillespie played in the college ranks at Salem University from 2014 to 2017 where he spent time as both a forward and a goalkeeper. He was a potent attacker in his early days at Salem. He scored two goals in his freshman season before moving between the posts later in the season. The following year was very similar with Gillespie scoring two goals on two shots in the season opener against Pikeville before moving to goalkeeper mid-season where he made 30 saves.

He became the starting goalkeeper for his junior and senior years as he made 48 and 26 saves each respective season.

Gillespie remained at Salem after his final playing season as an assistant for the 2018 season where his duties included working with goalkeepers and leading training sessions. 

Gillespie takes over an assistant coaching role previously filled by Jake Buckle who was an assistant coach for the Bears who prioritized working with goalkeepers last season. Buckle helped coach the Bear's goalkeepers to lead the nation in shutout percentage (0.667) out of 201 schools. 

"Jake has had an incredible impact on our team during his time here," Seabolt said. "The passion he gave as a player here, as a graduate assistant coach with our women's soccer team and as a coach for the men's team exemplified what it means to be a Bear. We wish him the very best in his future."

Gillespie will take over the reins in the goalkeeper room that includes senior Harry Townsend, who accounted for all 12 of last year's shutouts at goal while only allowing 11 goals. His 12 shutouts tied Duke goalkeeper Eliot Hamill for most in the nation in 2022.

Missouri State men's soccer will play its first game of the 2023 season this week against No. 14 Maryland on Thursday, August 24 at 7:30 p.m. in College Park, MD. You can watch the game on Big Ten Plus.