New Jersey City University Athletics

FULL NATIONAL POLL

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | What seemed like an impossibility just three years ago is now a reality—New Jersey City University  is nationally ranked in Division III women's soccer. For the first time in the 19-year history of the Gothic Knight women's soccer program, NJCU is nationally ranked, earning a No. 24 spot in the week four D3soccer.com Top 25 poll released on September 27.
 
After receiving votes in the poll in each of the last two weeks—seven on September 13 and 31 on September 20—the undefeated Gothic Knights picked up 67 points this week, enough to enter the poll for the first time.
 
The D3soccer.com Top 25 poll is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors and media members from across the country. The Knights are one of two New Jersey Athletic Conference schools in the national poll; defending NJAC champion The College of New Jersey is 12^th.
 
The Gothic Knights, who also earned enough votes for a ninth place spot in the NCAA Division III South Atlantic Regional rankings, are currently 9-0-0 and 2-0-0 in the NJAC. The nine consecutive wins and 9-0-0 start to a season are both school records and NJCU is 2-0 in the conference for the first time ever.
 
“It's a big accomplishment as a team,” noted senior defender NICOLE SARICA (Linden, NJ/Linden), a three-year team co-captain. “It means were making progress and we keep moving forward as a team and a program. The focus [of the team] is much better than it was when I got here [as a freshman in 2008] and I think that plays a big part in our success.”
 
The 67 points were one better than 25^th ranked Transylvania University and four more than Wheaton College (MA). The 67 points are also a record for most points received in the poll and the fourth time NJCU has received votes in the poll in its history. In addition to receiving votes in the week two and three polls this season, the Knights picked up five points in the October 26, 2010 D3soccer.com Week 8 poll.
 
Of the 427 Division III schools that sponsor women's soccer, only six, including NJCU are still undefeated and untied and all six teams are currently nationally ranked. Wheaton College (IL) is No. 2, Trinity University (TX) is third, Johns Hopkins University is fifth, Virginia Wesleyan College is 17^th and Amherst College is listed 19^th.
 
The national ranking is an enormous accomplishment for a sport that was once was an afterthought. In 14 seasons from 1995-2008, NJCU went winless in the NJAC every season and won just 54 games with 12 different head coaches at the helm.
 
But that all changed when ROBERT BIELAN became the head coach and now the sixth-year head coach has won 55 games during his tenure, rebuilding the program from the foundation. His career record is now 55-52-1 (.514), including a stellar 36-16-1 mark and .689 winning percentage in the last three seasons alone entering a tough week of action.
 
“This means a lot to me,” Bielan says of the ranking. “I think what we proved here, through hard work and dedication anything can be accomplished, and that's something I try to instill into our players, both athletically and in their lives. We've been building every year and never wavered away from what I knew this program could be. When I first took the job here, my plan was to first bring stability to the program. I've stuck with my initial plan and every year we've enhanced the program with better student athletes while surrounding myself with better assistant coaches. Every year we try to raise the bar.”
 
The Knights will have a challenging week if they hope to maintain or increase their ranking. On September 28, NJCU visits Kean University, the No. 6 ranked team in the South Atlantic Region before hosting Richard Stockton College, ranked 10^th in the region, on October 1. NJCU has never defeated Kean in Union, NJ and has never won against Stockton at any site.