CRISTIAN da SILVA
HEAD MEN’S SOCCER COACH
Second Season
Last Updated: September 1, 2008
So much for a transition period. CRISTIAN da SILVA’s jump from high school to the college coaching ranks proved fruitful in 2007. After guiding the Gothic Knights to the greatest all-around season in the 49-year history of the program, da Silva, in his first year as a collegiate coach at any level, was selected as the 2007 NCAA Division III Metro Region Coach of the Year, in voting by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). He was also named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
Da Silva is the first coach in NJCU history to be named Region Coach of the Year and only the second to receive NJAC Coach of the Year.
When the accomplished high school coach and former college and professional soccer player was hired as the 11th head men’s soccer coach in the program’s history on May 2, 2007 after a national search, da Silva took the reigns of the nationally renowned program with little time to prepare for the upcoming season and even less time to recruit. All da Silva did in his first season as a collegiate head coach was add a remarkable amount of stability following a coaching transition, and guided the Knights to heights they had never before reached.
In the 2007 NCAA Division III final post-season poll, the Gothic Knights were ranked No. 12 in the nation. NJCU finished with a single-season record 18 victories (18-5-1), and earned the highest two regular season rankings ever—eighth in the October 23 NSCAA poll and seventh in the October 30 rankings. Prior to the 2007 season, the highest ever NSCAA ranking for the Knights was 11th.
NJCU won its first-ever outright regular season NJAC title, finishing with a 7-1-1 mark, en route to the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament—another first. The Knights fell in the conference finals for the second consecutive year.
NJCU was the No. 1 ranked team in all three NCAA Division III Metro Region rankings and also first in the NSCAA Metro poll—the first time the Knights had achieved either of these feats.
For the second time in three years, NJCU qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament as an at-large Pool C selection, and again advanced to the Sweet 16, by virtue of a 2-0 win over Castleton State College (VT), the champions of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), and Hamilton College (NY), Liberty League titleists, 4-1, in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, before losing to Montclair State University in overtime in the third round, 3-2. NJCU finished the year with a 3-3 record against nationally ranked opponents.
Among the most prolific offensive teams in the nation in 2007, NJCU scored 81 goals in 24 games, the third time in school history the Knights have scored at least 80 times in one year. Players who accounted for 67 of those 81 goals return for the 2008 campaign.
Da Silva replaced Kevin East, who in nine years at NJCU (1998-2006) became the school’s all-time winningest coach (123-66-11) and had a .643 winning percentage in exactly 200 games. East was the only other NJCU coach to be named the NJAC Coach of the Year, collected the award in his third season as Gothic Knights’ coach in 2000.
When da Silva replaced East, who left in January 2007 for the same position at Rutgers-Newark, he had big shoes to fill, because in a nine-year career, 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 had very little time to recruit.
But once the remaining players met da Silva, there was no doubt they would stay, and he proved to be a coach that gave players opportunities to flourish, and excel they did.
Da Silva came to NJCU from Saint Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, NJ where he was the head boys' soccer coach from 2001-06. The 2002 Bergen County Coach of the Year, Da Silva guided the Green Knights to the non-public North A state sectional finals in 2002 with a 16-5 record, and the state sectional semifinals in 2004 and 2006 with records of 15-6 and 18-4, respectively. The 18-4 mark obtained by the 2006 club was the best record in school history. Under his tutelage, the Knights were NNJIL league finalists in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Da Silva, who possesses a United States Soccer Federation National “A” License, has worked with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) as the head coach of the Region 1 Olympic Development Program (ODP) since 2004 for boys born in 1992, and coached against professional teams in Argentina, Italy and U.S. Regional clubs.
Since 1997, da Silva has served as head coach of the New Jersey Minority Program for the USSF, working alongside national team coach Juan Carlos Michia. Da Silva has been responsible for identifying inner-city players for the U.S. National Team.
As Director of Youth Coaching for the American Soccer Club since 2000, da Silva planned all the boys and girls U-7 to U-17 programs. He was head coach of the U-11 boys’ teams that won the 2001 New Jersey State Cup championship, was ranked No. 1 in the state and fifth in the country. He guided the club to the 1999, 2001 and 2002 Northern County League title. He also coached the U-15 girls’ team that was ranked third in the state and 16th in the region, winning four league crowns.
In 2001, da Silva guided the Pasco Stallions U-13 Boys to a #2 ranking in the state and eighth in the nation. That same year he coached the Northern County Summer Select U-10 boys’ team to a perfect 34-0-0 record and the league title.
Since 1999, he has been President and Director of Youth Coaching for the Cris da Silva Pro Soccer Academy, Inc., where he has implemented training sessions and organized youth club teams.
Amongst the professional coaching ranks, da Silva served as an assistant coach and Director of Youth Coaching from 1998-99 with the Staten Island Vipers A-League Division II, which advanced to the 1999 league quarterfinals and defeated the MetroStars in the U.S. Open Cup.
Da Silva played professionally as a defensive midfielder with the MetroStars of Major League Soccer from 1996-98, where he was a Franchise First Discovery Player. In 1994, he was a first round draft pick of the Buffalo Blizzards of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL).
From 1998-99 he played with the Staten Island Vipers of the A-League, where he was a team captain, two-time player of the month and three-time player of the week. He helped the Vipers to the 1999 playoff quarterfinals and to a win over the MetroStars in the U.S. Open Cup.
From 1994-96, da Silva played for the New Jersey Stallions of the USISL. There, he was a captain and the team’s defensive MVP, and was selected to the league’s all-star game.
A four-year starter as a sweeper for Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT, he helped the Owls capture the 1990 and 1992 NCAA Division II national championships, while also advancing to the 1993 NCAA final. A 1993 First-Team All-America selection, he led the Owls to the 1990, 1992 and 1993 New England Collegiate Conference title. He also played in the 1993 New England Senior Bowl.
Da Silva was a four-year starter for Don Bosco Tech in Paterson, NJ from 1986-89, and in 2000 was named to the Passaic County All-Century Team by the Bergen Record. He was named First-Team All-State in 1989 after leading the Rams to the Passaic County championship. He was selected First-Team All-County in 1988 and 1989, and First-Team All-BPSL Carpenter from 1987-89, as the Rams won league titles each year.
A 1994 graduate of SCSU, he received a bachelor of science in Corporate Communication. Da Silva, 37, resides in Waldwick, NJ with his wife Eleonora and sons Jagger, 6, and Axel, 1.
