By Alex Johanesen —
For the first time in history a Gothic Knight women’s soccer coach was awarded the New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. Coach Rob Bielan , the 2011 recipient, led the team to a 14-8 season, finishing with a post-season appearance in NJAC and ECAC play-offs.
“I wanted to be 500 in the NJAC and bring the team into the play-offs,” said Bielan, “It was a goal I set years ago when I first took over the program. We finished 5th in the conference this year.”
Since his start in 2006 the team has steadily improved each year. In 2009 the team broke its win record with 13 victories. That year NJCU women’s soccer also made its first post-season debut ever as they competed in ECACs. The team improved to 14 wins in 2010, 4 of which were against NJAC competitors and a made a visit to both the NJAC and ECAC tournament.
“We brought in a couple better players to build our foundation, like Jen Albuja, Nicole Sarica, and Erica Buonacquista. When people see three successful women on the field and in the classroom it attracts them to the university,” He added, “This year, a lot of our players came into preseason ready to play. They followed the offseason workouts and they came focused. The seniors came in wanting to push the team further than it’s ever gone. The freshmen came in wanting to contribute and make it better for the seniors.”
Bielan’s career record is 60-60-1; there is a chance the wins will begin to surpass the losses now, especially with his expectations of the players.
“What’s helped us is that on my team there are no power kicks. Whether you play for 10 minutes or 90 minutes you don’t stop until you’re done,” said Bielan. “The players get assessed every day so they play hard. I don’t think at any other school you will get a genuine opportunity to showcase what you have.”
His coaching style allows the team to flourish beyond what has been expected of them. Between the powerhouse offensive duo of Julia Caseres and Jennifer Albuja and the rock solid defense, Bielan must be doing something right.
“I had two kinds of coaches in my life. I’ve had the role models who stepped up and taught me the right way to coach. Then of course I’ve had the bad coaches; the ones who didn’t have positive reinforcement. I took the good and from the bad I learned how not to treat my student-athletes or my staff,” said Bielan.
Now that the Coach of the Year has reached his goal of 500, he hopes to continue to focus on his players. His goals for next season are clear.
“I want to keep my kids on track to graduate on time and to continue being successful in the classroom, which is paramount,” said Bielan, “The bar needs to keep raising to make ourselves a force to reckon with.”
