Fast Facts: Will compete with Chris Palumbo for the starting nod at right midfielder…Vera started four of his 18 games as a rookie…Five points (one goal, three assists)…Is hands down the fittest player on the team and is excellent in one-on-one situations.
2003: Started four of his 18 games as a rookie…Collected one goal and three assists for five points in 922 minutes of action…13 shots, seven SOG…Issued two red cards…(09/07): Attempted season-high three shots…(09/14): Made first career start in 1-0 win over New York University…(10/04): Contributed two assists—the first points of his career—in a 9-0 rout of New Jersey Athletic Conference foe Rutgers-Newark…(11/01): Assisted on the second half go-ahead goal that made it 2-1, before NJCU beat William Paterson University, 3-2, in overtime to qualify for the NJAC Tournament…(11/02): Scored his first career goal in 9-2 blowout of Farmingdale State…(11/04): Played a season-high 70 minutes in one-goal loss to Rowan in NJAC Quarterfinals.
High School: A June 20, 2003 graduate of Harrison High School in Harrison, NJ, with a 3.0 GPA…A four-year varsity standout player for the Blue Tide, which won back-to-back New Jersey state championships as a junior and senior in 2001 and 2002…Played for Head Coaches Mike Rusek, assistants John Rusek and Henry Perales, and earlier Leo Palacio as a soccer player for Harrison…Also competed on one season of varsity wrestling, also for Palacio…Registered 13 goals and eight assists for 34 points as a senior, en route to Third-Team All-Hudson County, and Third-Team All-State Group 2 accolades…Also earned Second-Team All-Bergen County Scholastic League National Division honors…Scored the first goal of the millennium for Harrison in 2000 against Kearny…Played in the Hudson County Senior All-Star game…After playing on a .500 team in 1999, Mike Rusek took over the program, and Harrison went 16-2-1 in 2000…In 2001, the Blue Tide improved to 20-1-2, and captured the NJSIAA Group 2 state title—its 19th state title and its first since 1991…As a senior in 2002, Vera’s Harrison team was never defeated, finishing with an amazing 24-0-1 ledger, a state-record 20th state title…Harrison claimed its first Star-Ledger Top 20 Trophy, as the No. 1 ranked team in the state and in Group 2…Harrison went a combined 44-1-3 in his final two seasons…In 2002, Harrison outscored its opposition, 120-13, including 12-3 in five state tournament games…By the end of Vera’s career, Harrison was riding the state’s longest unbeaten streak at 34 games, while going 32-0-2 since a 2-0 loss to Memorial of West New York, NJ on October 20, 2001…Including Vera, five players on the 2002 team scored at least 12 goals.
Personal: Born January 31, 1985…Full name is Juan P. Vera…Nickname is JP…Father is Luis Vera…Has four brothers—Fior, 26, Wilson, 24, Edison, 21, and Felix, 17…Major at NJCU is undecided…Right-footed.
Favorites:
Hobbies/interest: Soccer
Sports Team: NJCU Soccer
Song: “Affirmative Action” by Nas
2006 Highlights: (10/02 vs. College of Staten Island): Collected two assists in the game. Each of his assists were shots that would have resulted in goals had a teammate not knocked it into the net on assists for Jensen as he came sliding in on the left post to knock the attempt into the net. Another shot from Vera on the right wing would have found nylon, but Carson slipped in on the left post to bury the ball...(11/11 vs. Kean University): Scored to opening up a 1-0 lead at 38:51 of the first period, as he buried a shot into the lower right corner off a cross into the box from the right by EDISON BILBAO. It was Vera’s fifth career goal and first since October 31, 2004...
