JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Former New Jersey City University women's soccer all-time great Julia Caseres, the all-time leading scorer in the history of collegiate men's or women's soccer in the state of New Jersey, died on June 21 after a year-long battle with a rare form of lung cancer. The Academic All-America and D3soccer All-American honoree was just 28.
 
Caseres, a native of Union, N.J., had been a member of the Piscataway, N.J. police department for the last three years.
 
On May 6, 2019, she was honored by her alma mater with the inaugural NJCU True Grit Award—given to an individual who has gone through tremendous hardship, however through perseverance, resiliency and flat out grit, found the power to rise above and overcome.
 

A surefire future NJCU Hall of Famer, Caseres' career culminated in 2011 when she was voted to the prestigious Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III Women's Soccer Third Team, becoming just the second women's soccer player in school history to be voted Academic All-America®. She was named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-District® II Division III Women's Soccer First Team.
 
The all-time leading scorer in New Jersey collegiate soccer history among Division I, II or III players—men or women— Caseres finished her career with exactly 100 goals and 42 assists for 242 points in 86 career games between Rutgers-Newark (2008) and NJCU (2009-11). She ended her career ranked 12^th in Division III history in points and 15^th in goals.
 
"The impact she made was not only on my life, it was on my daughters lives as well," said Robert Bielan `95, her head coach at NJCU. "She instilled a hard work ethic in my kids that when they step on the field, they leave it all on the field. After [NJCU's] games, my daughters would run onto the field to me and quickly were grabbed and hugged and kissed by Julia—that's who she was."
 
A two-time Academic All-NJAC selection, she was named First-Team as a senior in 2011-12 and Second-Team in 2010-11. She was a multiple-time Dean's List recipient while majoring in Criminal Justice.
 
Caseres was a two-time winner of NJCU's Thomas M. Gerrity Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in 2010-11 and 2011-12—the most prestigious honor any New Jersey City student-athlete can receive. She is one of just five women and eight student-athletes in the history of the institution to win the award more than once.
 
"Julia will always be the perfect role model in life," said NJCU Hall-of-Famer Katie Feehan `07 (MS, `09), her assistant coach and long-time friend. "She was a perfect daughter, sister, wife, friend, student, coach, police officer and soccer player. She will always be remembered for her tireless work ethic, drive, love for the game and how she loved, inspired and smiled at everyone around her."
 
Feehan added: "she will always have an impact at NJCU on the women's soccer team. When she was a player, no matter what the situation was, Julia was the one that made you believe that no team could ever beat us. It was inspiring to watch her play and play with her not just because of talent, but because she was willing to fight through anything to help the team. Because she never gave up, neither did anyone else, and that is why we were so successful. I am going to miss her flying through the air through a group of defenders to get a touch on the ball and score, but I am going to miss her more off the field being one of the best friends I could ever ask for. If you knew Julia, you loved her, and I always will."
 
As a junior in 2010, she was named a Third-Team D3soccer.com All-American. Caseres was a four-time All-NJAC selection in her career, taking home Second-Team honors in 2009 and 2010, and Honorable Mention status in 2011 and as a freshman at Rutgers-Newark in 2008. She was named NJAC Offensive Player of the Week six times in three years at NJCU and once at Rutgers-Newark and in 2008 was a four-time NJAC Rookie of the Week. Caseres was a 15-time NJCU Athlete of the Week pick.
 
In 2011, she led the Gothic Knights to a 14-8 overall record (4-4 NJAC) and to its third consecutive appearance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament, reaching the ECAC semifinals for the second time in that span. NJCU also qualified for the NJAC Tournament for the second straight season. NJCU had finished in last place in the NJAC virtually every year in its history prior to her arrival at the school.
 
Simply put, Caseres led NJCU to by far the three greatest seasons it has ever enjoyed and the only three years of double-digit victories, winning 13, 14 and 14 in successive years. In her three seasons, she led NJCU to a combined 41-24-1 record, a .629 winning percentage, 11 conference victories, a 26-5-1 home record and as high as a No. 24 national ranking—quite the contrast prior to her arrival when NJCU struggled for relevance and often just to field a competitive team.
 
On September 26, 2009, in her first game for NJCU against her former school, Rutgers-Newark, Caseres made a lasting impact on the university when she netted a hat trick against her former team as NJCU won its first NJAC game in 15 years. That 5-1 rout ended a 111-game NJAC winless streak and a 103-game conference losing skid for the Gothic Knights and catapulted her team to a three-year stretch of success that has never been matched.
 
The 'A-C Connection' of teammate Jennifer Albuja and Caseres finished their careers as the all-time leading goal scoring combination in Division III history with 191 goals and second in total points (445, one shy of record). They were prominently featured in an NJ.com story on September 27, 2011 after the duo helped NJCU roar to a record 9-0 start to its 2011 season.
 
Caseres was featured in the September 5, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated. On October 27, 2011, a diving header by Caseres was highlighted on ESPN's SportsCenter and featured on SportsNation.
 
"Julia came to a rebuilding program and instilled in everybody the belief that anything can be accomplished if you work hard enough and stay positive," Bielan recalled. "Her impact of hard work and dedication and sportsmanship that she left on the program is what Julia would want to be remembered for—not her goals or her assists but how she genuinely loved our university, adored her teammates and the respect she gave everyone who met her."
 
In three seasons at NJCU, Caseres tallied 78 goals and 34 assists for 190 points on 370 shots (175 shots on goal), netting 18 game-winners in 66 games. She is NJCU's all-time leader in eight categories—points per game (2.88), goals per game (1.18), game-winners, assists, assists per game (0.52), shots per game (5.61), penalty kicks made (4), and penalty kicks attempted (7), while listing second in points, goals, shots, shots on goal and shots on goal per game (2.65). In her four-year collegiate career, she had 478 career shots (239 SOG) and 22 game-winning goals, while making 7-of-10 penalty kicks.
 
She earned her degree in Criminal Justice from NJCU in 2013. Caseres was a 2008 graduate of Union High School.
 
Bielan said "players like Julia seldom come around. She's the Halley's Comet of soccer; it's going to be a long time until we come close to finding a player of her caliber and excellence again. Julia made me a better coach, and not many can say they were blessed to coach a living angel. She was my beautiful girl and the world is a sadder place without her."
 
Caseres is survived by her wife, Lex, her parents, Margaret and Manuel, her sisters, Victoria and Joyce, three brothers—Orlando, Nicholas and Andrew—and dozens of Gothic Knight teammates she impacted for a lifetime.   
 
SERVICES:
Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation for Julia Caseres on Tuesday, June 25 from 5-9 p.m. at the Galante Funeral Home, 2800 Morris Ave. Union.
 
Funeral services will on Wednesday June 26, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. at the funeral home, followed by a funeral Mass at Holy Spirit Church, 971 Suburban Road in Union at 10:30 a.m.
 
Donations in her honor can be made to The Special Olympics: http://www.specialolympics.org

For more information: https://www.galantefuneralhome.com/notices/Julia-Caseres
 
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