News Release
2007 NEW JERSEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE AWARDS ANNOUNCED; NJCU RECEIVES FOUR MAJOR AWARDS, PLACES THREE ON FIRST-TEAM
CRISTHIAN ACUNA NAMED NJAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR; EDISON BILBAO MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR, CRISTIAN DA SILVA COACH OF THE YEAR
PITMAN, NJ�A record-breaking season for New Jersey City University�s men�s soccer team has translated into a record-breaking amount of post-season awards for the Gothic Knights. The New Jersey Athletic Conference announced its 2007 All-NJAC accolades on Tuesday, and NJCU received four of the top seven annual awards presented by the conference. Junior forward CRISTHIAN ACUNA (East Newark, NJ/Harrison) was named the NJAC Offensive Player of the Year while junior midfielder EDISON BILBAO (Carteret, NJ/St. Benedict�s Prep) is the first-ever recipient of the newly-established Pat Baldiserra Midfielder of the Year honor.
Rookie head coach CRISTIAN da SILVA was named the NJAC Coach of the Year. NJCU sophomore sweeper JEAN MOMBRUN (Orange, NJ/St. Benedict�s Prep) was selected as the David Logar Leadership Award honoree. Overall, NJCU placed three players on the First-Team All-NJAC list and five players overall received All-Conference nods.
Acuna, Edison Bilbao and junior center midfielder JONATHAN BILBAO (Carteret, NJ/St. Benedict�s Prep) have all been named First-Team All-NJAC, while sophomore defensive midfielder JOHN BERNAL (Paterson, NJ/Inem (Colombia) received Second-Team All-NJAC honors as a back. Senior forward MARCELO CARPIO (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) was named Honorable Mention All-NJAC.
Acuna is the second NJCU player in three years to receive the honor (2005, Chris Rosenthal)�the only two times in school history a Gothic Knight has earned the league�s top award. A two-time First-Team All-NJAC selection for the Knights after being named the 2004 New Jersey High School Player of the Year, Acuna enjoyed a terrific junior campaign for the Knights.
Despite missing nearly the entire month of October with a leg injury, his September was too dominant to ignore. He finished the season as NJCU�s leader with 31 points, and tied for the club lead in goals (11) and assists (9), playing in 16 of 21 games, with 11 starts. He had 47 shots (24 on goal), four game-winning goals, twice scored the first goal of a game, and one hat trick. A two-time ECAC Division III Metro and NJAC Offensive Player of the Week selection (September 17 and 24) and a D3Kicks.com National Team of the Week pick (September 18), he currently leads the NJAC in points per game (1.94) and assists per game (0.56). He also ranks second in the league in points, assists and goals per game (0.69), tied for third in goals and game-winners, is fourth in shots per game (2.94) and tied for 10th in total shots.
From September 8 thru October 1, he scored in seven consecutive games in which he played and eight of nine, tallying a hat-trick against Skyline Conference runner-up St. Joseph�s College. He had game-winners in three consecutive games against Ramapo College, Rowan University and Kean University, and another winner against Keystone College. He was injured most of the month of October, only seeing action in five games following October 1, including the NJAC Tournament (224 total minutes).
He is currently second in school history with 30 assists�one shy of matching the program record, and ranks fourth in NJCU�s annals in points (76), tied for fifth in game-winners (7), and tied for seventh in goals (23).
Edison Bilbao is the first-ever recipient of the NJAC Midfielder of the Year Award and is now a three-time All-NJAC selection and two-time First-Team All-NJAC honoree. The newly established Midfielder of the Year has been named on the men�s side in the memory of former Rutgers University-Camden All-American Pat Baldiserra, who was killed in an automobile accident in June 2007, prior to the start of his senior season.
Bilbao, the 2006-07 NJCU Thomas M. Gerrity Scholar Athlete of the Year for all sports, he was a First-Team All-NJAC choice in 2006 and an Honorable Mention pick as a freshman in 2005. The Gothic Knight co-captain had nine goals and eight assists for 26 points, with 53 shots (29 on goal) and three game-winners in 1,202 minutes over 17 games (15 starts).
The NJAC Offensive Player of the Week on September 10, he was named to the D3Kicks Team of the Week on September 11 and was named to two All-Tournament Teams, including his third straight NJCU Liberty Cup.
He currently ranks fourth in the NJAC in points per game (1.53) and assists per game (0.47). He is also second in shots per game (3.18), fifth in shots, tied for sixth in assists, seventh in goals per game (0.53), tied for seventh in points, and tied for 10th in goals. He is sixth in NJCU history in both career points (62) and assists (22).
Da Silva is only the second NJCU coach to ever be named the NJAC Coach of the Year; Kevin East collected the award in his third season as Gothic Knights� coach in 2000.
It was East that da Silva replaced as coach in May 2007 after a national search and he had big shoes to fill, because in a nine-year career as NJCU�s winningest coach in history, East had turned a perennial conference cellar dweller into a nationally ranked team and a serious playoff contender. With East leaving to take the job at Rutgers-Newark in January 2007, there was no guarantee the remaining players would stay at NJCU, and da Silva, a highly successful coach at St. Joseph�s High School (Montvale) had very little time to recruit.
All da Silva did in his first season as a collegiate head coach was add a remarkable amount of stability to the program, and guided the Knights to heights they had never before reached. As of November 6, NJCU was 16-4-1 overall and ranked No. 7 nationally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. NJCU was also ranked eighth this year; prior to the 2007 season, the highest ever NSCAA ranking for the Knights was 11th.
Additionally, da Silva did something else that had never before been accomplished�he guided the program to its first-ever outright NJAC regular season title in the 49-year history of the program, and its first No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament. NJCU advanced to the championship game for the second year in a row and the third time in its history, tied the school record for consecutive wins (7) and was selected for the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in three years. NJCU was ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA Metro Region for the first time in school history and No. 1 in all three weekly NCAA Division III Metro Committee polls for the first time.
Mombrun is the first NJCU player to ever receive the Logar Award, given annually to a player who best displays the attributes of leadership and courage. After becoming a starter late in his freshman season in 2006, Mombrun took over as sweeper for the first time this season, replacing 2006 NJAC Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-American Anthony Flores. He led all team position players with 1,782 minutes, while starting all 21 games. Mombrun has been the backbone of NJCU�s defensive unit, which as a team has combined for 10 shutouts. Overall, NJCU has allowed one goal or less in 16 games, and two or fewer goals in 20 of 21 contests. Only 238 shots have been surrendered (11.33 per game) and 110 on goal (5.24 per game).
Jonathan Bilbao is the third NJCU player to received First-Team All-NJAC accolades, his second career All-NJAC selection (2005, Honorable Mention). After an injury-plagued sophomore campaign, he has enjoyed a sensational junior year as team co-captain, while guiding the pace of the club as its center midfielder.
Bilbao, who earned his first career NJAC Offensive Player of the Week honor on November 5, is second on the team with 29 points (10 goals, nine assists), is tied for the team lead in assists, and third in goals. In 20 games (20 starts) and 1,408 minutes, he had 47 shots (22 on goal), four game-winners, four first goals, six unassisted goals, and is a perfect 3-for-3 on penalty kicks (5-for-5 in his career). He was tabbed to the D3Kicks Team of the Week on October 16. A 2007 First-Team Academic All-NJAC selection with a 3.60 GPA, he won the NJCU Gothic Knight Men�s Academic Achievement Award for the 2006-07 year.
He currently ranks tied for second in the NJAC in assists, third in points, tied for third in game-winning goals, fifth in assists per game (0.45), tied for sixth in points per game (1.45), tied for seventh in goals, 10th in goals per game (0.50), and tied for 10th in shots. He had game-winning goals in NJCU�s victories over Rutgers-Newark (1-0), #10 Montclair State University (3-0), SUNY-Farmingdale (1-0) and #25 Ramapo College in the NJAC Semifinals (3-0, 2 goals).
NJCU�s all-time leader in game-winning goals (9), he is in seventh place in school history with 20 assists and ninth in points (56, 18 goals).
Bernal went from reserve status a year ago to Second-Team All-NJAC honors this year as a dominant defensive midfielder who controlled the tempo of the game for the Knights, and was difficult for opponents to win control of the ball from. He finished with two goals and three assists for seven points in 16 games (16 starts) over 1,143 minutes. He attempted 27 shots (nine on goal). After only playing in eight games (three starts) as a freshman in 2006, with two assists in 220 minutes of action, he was one of several reserves from last year who have flourished as a starter under da Silva�s system.
Carpio had a solid sophomore season in 2005, contributing to NJCU�s run to the Sweet 16, before struggling in 2006. But he regained his focus and dynamic scoring ability in the preseason, and has been a force to be reckoned with in 2007, finishing in a tie for the lead in goals (11) while adding four assists and 26 total points�tied for third on the club. He leads NJCU in shots (59) and shots on goal (27). In 21 games (20 starts), he has two game-winners, twice scored the first goal of a game, one game-tying goal and one hat trick.
He is second in the NJAC in shots, tied for third in goals, sixth in shots per game (2.81), tied for seventh in points, ninth in goals per game (0.52) and 10th in points per game (1.24). He was named to the Lotto Classic All-Tournament Team in the opening week of the season after netting a hat trick against Clarkson University. In a three-year career for the Knights after transferring from Division I Fairleigh Dickinson University, he is sixth in career goals (24) and eighth in points (57).
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Submitted 2007-11-06 19:48:04 by New Jersey City University Sports Information Department
