NJCU’S ROB BIELAN NAMED 2011 NJAC COACH OF THE YEAR FOUR GOTHIC KNIGHTS EARN ALL-NJAC HONORS; JENNIFER ALBUJA NAMED FIRST-TEAM
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 (Women's Soccer)
NJCU'S ROB BIELAN NAMED 2011 NJAC COACH OF THE YEAR
FOUR GOTHIC KNIGHTS EARN ALL-NJAC HONORS; JENNIFER ALBUJA NAMED FIRST-TEAM
PITMAN, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sixth-year New Jersey City University head coach ROBERT BIELAN `95 successfully transformed the Gothic Knight women's soccer team from an afterthought into a consistent playoff qualifier, and after guiding NJCU to a 13-7 overall record and its second consecutive appearance in the conference tournament, he has been voted by his peers as the 2011 New Jersey Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Coach of the Year. Four of Bielan's top players earned 2011 All-NJAC accolades this season, led by senior striker JENNIFER ALBUJA (Union City, NJ/Hoboken), who earned First-Team honors for the second time.
Senior striker JULIA CASERES (Union, NJ/Union), senior defender NICOLE SARICA (Linden, NJ/Linden) and rookie goalkeeper BRITTANY HOFFMAN (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) were each selected Honorable Mention All-NJAC. Albuja and Caseres conclude their careers as four-time All-NJAC selections while Sarica is a two-time All-NJAC pick.
Bielan is the first NJCU women's soccer coach to ever earn the NJAC Coach of the Year award. With a career record of 59-59-1, he has steadily improved the program since his arrival at NJCU—first as an assistant coach in 2005 before being elevated to head coach in 2006. In the last four years he has a combined record of 49-33-1 (.596) and an impressive 40-23-1 ledger (.633 percentage) in the last three seasons. Included in that total are 11 NJAC victories. The Knights had won just two NJAC games from 1994-2008.
"To be acknowledged, recognized and voted by my peers in this conference is a very special feeling," Bielan admitted. "Many of my peers have been in this conference a lot longer than me and have done great things with their programs."
"One thing that these coaches respect is hard work and they love the competition. Everyone took note when this program went from being consistently in last place to being a .500 program in conference play and by working hard with our program, it makes the whole conference more competitive. Everyone is looking for a strong, competitive conference schedule and with our program emerging, we give them one more competitive game. By bringing our program up, it has elevated the play in the entire conference and that helps all teams come the postseason."
In 2009, NJCU won a school record 13 games, and qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament, reaching the semifinals in its first post-season appearance of any kind. In 2010, NJCU set a new record with 14 wins and four NJAC victories, while earning an NJAC Tournament and ECAC appearance.
This year, NJCU opened the year at 9-0-0, winning a tournament at SUNY New Paltz, while achieving school records for best start to a season and longest winning streak. Bielan shares the coach of the year distinction with his coaching staff, which included assistant coaches Bryan Finley, Leah Tepperman and Katie Feehan Veloz this year.
"Bryan and Leah came in when we were turning the program into a winner. They help get the most out of the abilities of our team and players and by training hard, they helped turn this program around."
Albuja, who earned Honorable Mention All-NJAC honors, playing half the season at forward and half as the team's sweeper, was statistically the best player in the conference this season, earning First-Team All-NJAC honors for the first time since her rookie season of 2007, when she was the NJAC Rookie of the Year. She was Honorable Mention All-NJAC in 2008 before missing the 2009 campaign. She ranks No. 2 in NJAC history in total goals and total points among men or women.
NJCU's all-time leading scorer with 87 career goals and 194 points, along with 20 assists in 79 games, she had netted 16 career game-winning goals on 390 shots with 211 shots on goal. Albuja is NJCU's career leading in points, goals, shots, shots on goal, games played, games started (79), and minutes played (6627) and ranks second to Caseres in points per game (2.46), goals per game (1.10), game-winners, shots per game (4.94) and shots on goal per game (2.67). She is fourth in school history in total assists.
"This is how Jen has always been," Bielan noted of his star recruit from 2007. "Nothing has changed in her play from freshman to senior year. She knows what it takes to win. She gives nothing less than 100 percent from whistle to whistle and that's what makes her deserving of all of her awards. Her senior year was amazing. She scored multiple goals consistently in NJAC games when they were needed. Whether we won or lost, she always stepped up to the challenge and scored big goals when they were needed. That's her legacy."
This season, Albuja, who was named NJAC Offensive Player of the Week and ECAC Division III Metro Offensive Player of the Week in week three of the season (September 19), has 21 goals and 10 assists for 52 points in 20 games. She has attempted 104 shots with 54 on goal and has notched four game-winners. Overall, she currently leads the NJAC in points, points per game (2.60), goals, and shots and is tied for first with Caseres in assists and assists per game (0.50). She ranks second in shots per game (5.20), third in goals per game (1.05) and game-winning goals. She is a three-time NJAC Offensive Player of the Week in her career.
Albuja currently ranks among the national leaders in total points (seventh), total goals (ninth), points per game (18th), total assists (25th), goals per game (27th), and assists per game (56th).
In conference-only action, Albuja scored seven goals and had three assists for 17 points, with 44 shots, including 19 on goal. She netted a pair of game-winning goals. Within league play, Albuja led the league in shots and shots per game (4.89), was second in game-winners, and listed third in points—just one shy of the league lead. She was also third in goals and goals per game (0.78), fourth in points per game (1.89), fifth in assists, and seventh in assists per game (0.33).
Caseres, a Second-Team All-NJAC pick and Third-Team D3soccer.com All-America last season, earns her fourth All-NJAC distinction after notching 20 goals and 10 assists for 50 points in 20 games. She has 92 shots (45 SOG) and five game-winning goals in 1,578 minutes. A two-time NJAC Offensive Player of the Week in week one and seven (September 5 and October 17), she was also a one-time ECAC Metro/Upstate Player of the Week.
Caseres, the all-time leading scorer in NJAC and New Jersey collegiate soccer history among Division I, II or III players—men or women—currently has 98 goals and 41 assists for 237 points in 84 career games between Rutgers-Newark (2008) and NJCU (2009-11). She has 468 career shots (236 SOG) and 22 game-winning goals, while making 7-of-10 penalty kicks. She ranks 15th in Division III history in points and 16th in goals, with more potential games next week in the ECAC Tournament.
In three seasons at NJCU, Caseres, who was also named Second-Team All-NJAC as a sophomore in 2009, has 76 goals and 33 assists for 185 points on 360 shots (172 shots on goal), netting 18 game-winners in 64 games. She is NJCU's all-time leader in points per game (2.89), goals per game (1.19), game-winners, assists, assists per game (0.52), shots per game (5.62), shots on goal per game (2.69), penalty kicks made (4), and penalty kicks attempted (7), while listing second in points, goals, shots and shots on goal.
As of November 2, she is tied with Albuja for the conference lead in assists and assists per game (0.50) and tied for first in game-winning goals (5) and game-winners per game (0.25). She currently ranks second overall in the NJAC in goals, points and points per game (2.50), third in shots, fourth in goals per game (1.00), and fifth in shots per game (4.60). Nationally, Caseres is currently among the NCAA Division III leaders in total points (ninth), total goals (12th), points per game (25th), total assists (25th), game-winning goals (25th), goals per game (28th), and assists per game (56th).
"Julia is a very good, consistent player," said Bielan. She came into the program when we needed good players, and made an immediate impact while absolutely helping our program grow. She took a chance [when she transferred to NJCU from Rutgers-Newark]. She showed that if you work hard and take chances, you can become successful."
In the NJAC-only, nine-game statistics, Caseres finished with four goals and three assists for 11 points with one game-winner. She ranked fifth in shots (31) and assists, sixth in shots per game (3.44), seventh in assists per game (0.33), eighth in game-winners, ninth in goals, 10th in points and goals per game (0,44), and 11th in points per game (1.22). She is a six-time NJAC Offensive Player of the Week in three seasons as a Gothic Knight.
The 'A-C Connection' of Albuja and Caseres rank No. 1 in Division III history for most combined goals with 185 and with a combined 430 career points are now just two points shy of the all-time Division III scoring mark of 432.
Hoffman, the NJAC Rookie of the Week in week one (September 5), was one of the most steady net-minders in the NJAC all-season, and proved her talent in the first two weeks of the season when she achieved a school record for longest scoreless minutes streak at 450:49—nearly 200 minutes longer than the previous record. In 20 games, Hoffman, who had a sub-one goals against average for most of the season, went 13-7-0 in net with six shutouts, 114 saves and a .792 save percentage. She allowed 30 goals in 1841:23 and had a 1.47 goals against average. Hoffman reached double figures in saves five times, including four of the final five games during the regular season and conference tournament, with a career-best of 14 against The College of New Jersey.
Hoffman, who currently ranks No. 2 in the nation in goalie minutes played, set single-season school records this year for minutes played by a field position player or goalkeeper, tied the mark for most wins and ranked second in save percentage, goals against average, and goalie games played and started.
Overall, she ranks third in shutouts, fourth in shutouts per game (0.30) and saves per game (5.70), fifth in the NJAC in save percentage, and sixth in goals against average. In NJAC-only action, the rookie was second in saves (71) and saves per game (.789), fourth in save percentage (.780), and seventh in goals against average (2.18), while winning four games.
"Brittany is a great addition and she is the future of this program," Bielan noted. "She's the best keeper this program has ever had in its history. She is part of the foundation of the future and will continue to lead us on the field. She played every second this year and is always eager to learn. She is very critical of her mistakes and will work on her own to get better and make sure they [mistakes] don't happen again. Those are the kind of players we want here."
Sarica, the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week in week two (September 12), earns All-NJAC honors for the first time since the 2009 season, when she made the switch from midfield to defender. She missed much of the 2010 season with an injury. She played in 18 games this season and saw 1,636 minutes of action, contributing to four shutouts, including three straight when NJCU set the consecutive minutes scoreless streak at 451 minutes. Sarica scored one goal for two points and both of her shots during the season were on target.
In 72 career games she has 11 goals and 15 assists for 37 points on 66 shots (41 on goal) and two game-winners over 6,073 minutes. She is fourth in school history in games started (72) and minutes played, fifth in games, sixth in assists, ninth in shots on goal, 10 in points, 11th in game-winning goals, 13th in shots and 15th in assists per game (0.21).
"Nicole is a great defender," Bielan summarized. "She has speed and strength and is a smart player. She knows how to step up and deserves every accolade she gets. She will be tough to replace."
Sarica, a three-year co-captain, was named First-Team Academic All-NJAC in 2010. She was the 2010 NJCU Thomas M. Gerrity Scholar-Athlete of the Year winner—presented to the top all-around athlete at NJCU annually.
"For these four players to win these awards and me being selected Coach of the Year is a nice ending to their senior year," Bielan added. "We enjoyed a lot of success this season."
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