FEATURE FROM GOTHIC MAGAZINE
For four years, the only way opposing teams could tell Edison and Jonathan Bilbao of the New Jersey City University men’s soccer team apart was by the uniform number on their backs. Not that it helped, though. Because these identical twins proved to be quintessential student-athletes on the pitch and in the classroom while leading the Gothic Knights to unprecedented heights.
Simply referred to in New Jersey soccer circles as ‘the twins,’ the brothers from Carteret posted remarkable individual accomplishments from 2005-08 while leading NJCU to a four-year record of 63-23-8, four consecutive post-season appearances, two NCAA berths—both of which resulted in trips to the Sweet 16— and four straight seasons as a nationally ranked team.
Edison Bilbao was a two-time NJAC Midfielder of the Year for the Gothic Knights.
Equally as impressive has been their high academic accomplishments, which are especially notable when you consider they emigrated to the United States from the South American country of Chile at the age of 12 without any knowledge of English.
“Their personality and their work ethic to be good at everything they do—not just on the field but in the books—and wanting to do well at everything has been the difference,” noted second-year head men’s soccer coach Cristian da Silva, who coached the twins as junior and seniors after playing for Kevin East in 2005 and 2006.
While Edison and Jonathan are alike in nearly every regard off the field, their on-field talents enabled them to do something even more unique. Both were four-year starters at the same position—center midfielder—where they controlled the tempo of every game, together.
Their on field rewards were numerous. Edison was a 2007 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Men’s NCAA Division III All-America Second Teamer, receiving the same honor from D3Kicks.com. His all-around abilities on and off the field led to his selection as a 2007 NSCAA Scholar All-America First Team choice. He was tabbed to the All-Metro Region First Team in three consecutive years from 2006-08.
Additionally, Edison was the recipient of back-to-back New Jersey Athletic Conference Midfielder of the Year awards in 2007 and 2008 and was a three-time First-Team All-NJAC selection. He finished he career as a four-time All-NJAC selection—the first NJCU player to accomplish the feat since 1978.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was also lauded for his play. NJCU’s all-time career leader with 13 game-winning
No player in NJCU history had more game-winning goals than Jonathan Bilbao's 13.
goals, he was a 2007 Scholar All-America Second Team pick and a two-time Scholar First-Team All-East Region recipient in 2007 and 2008 while being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® District II Second Team. He was a three-time First-Team Academic All-NJAC winner from 2006-08 and received the Gothic Knight Academic Achievement Award in 2006 and 2007.
Jonathan was named Second-Team All-NJAC and NSCAA All-Metro Region Third-Team as a senior after earning First-Team All-NJAC, First-Team D3Kicks.com All-Region and Second-Team NSCAA All-Region honors in 2007. He was Honorable Mention All-NJAC in 2005.
The award-winning twins were co-winners of the 2008 Thomas M. Gerrity Scholar Athlete of the Year award—the top annual award any athlete at NJCU can receive. Edison also received the honor in 2007.
As the Bilbaos found, being an identical twin had its advantages—in soccer and in the classroom.
Academically both were Business Administration majors—Jonathan with a 3.43 grade point average and Edison with a 3.28. Taking nearly every class together throughout their academic journey, the Bilbaos were able to accomplish the difficult task of being four-year standout student-athletes while still graduating in four years. They often studied together in their initial years as they adjusted to college, and admitted that having someone to rely on as an academic partner was crucial.
To finish in four years while being elite athletes, the twins would take fewer classes during soccer season, 18 credits in the spring, and balance the workload with summer courses. Ironically, they actually fell just short of their own goal of graduating in three and a half years.
Jonathan Bilbao was a 2007 Scholar All-America Second Team.
“It was hard [graduating in four years while playing a sport] but it was something we had to do in order to compete in the real world,” Edison said. “We wanted to finish early so we could go play [professional] soccer somewhere else. I think that was the motivation we had to grow and to finish school earlier.”
Both twins acknowledged that while their soccer achievements made their family proud, their graduation in May, 2009, was even more important for their parents, Pamela Zarate and Juan Bilbao.
“That was for my parents,” said Edison, “because they were the ones who pushed us. We wanted to play soccer but they always wanted us to go to school and we did it for them. We thank them for always being there for us. This [our graduation] was for them. Soccer was for us.”
The benefits to being twins on the field are evident in the success they helped the Knights achieve. As freshmen in 2005, when NJCU made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, both twins had crucial tallies in a shootout against York College (PA) in the Second Round, with Jonathan clinching a trip to the Sweet 16 in one of the most dramatic moments in the program’s history.
After the Knights advanced to the NJAC title game in 2006, the twins helped NJCU reach another level in 2007, finishing with a single-season record 18 victories (18-5-1) in the most successful season in the 50-year history of the program. The Knights went 7-1-1 in the league, winning their first-ever NJAC regular season championship, before falling to Montclair State University for the second straight year in the conference finals. NJCU, which also attained a school-record No. 7 national ranking behind the co-captains, advanced again to the NCAA Sweet 16 before falling to Montclair in another exhilarating overtime playoff contest.
The success of the team can largely be attributed to their domination in the midfield. Jonathan, who finished his career with 23 goals, 26 assists and 72 points in 78 career games—among NJCU’s all-time leaders in each category—described the insight that twins have in a sporting event.
“It was easier to play because I knew everything he was going to do and he knew everything I was going to do. We relied on that. It gave us an advantage over other teams and other players when we shot the ball [the tandem combined for 378 career shots]. The other teams knew we had that power and it helped our team.”
Edison Bilbao ranks in the Top 5 in nine career offensive categories.
Edison, who notched 80 career points on 25 goals and 30 assists in 84 games, and ranks among the Top 5 in NJCU history in nine categories, added “playing with my brother was great. We’ve been playing together since we were six years old. We pushed each other and over the full four years, you can see it was a great idea [to play together at NJCU]. I knew what to expect from him, he knew what to expect from me and our teammates fed off of that.”
“They had a special flair in them,” said da Silva. “They could see opponents’ weakness and break them down. Plain and simple, they were the difference makers, the game breakers. Their standard of play brought the standard of their teammates up to their level. And it was a good dynamic because they were good kids and good teammates off the field.”
With Gothic Knight soccer and college life in the past, the twins are turning their attention to a potential professional playing career abroad—one which may eventually lead to their separation.
In the winter, Edison signed a pro contract with the New Jersey Ironmen of the indoor XStreme Soccer League, seeing action in 10 games in the second half of the season for the club which plays its home games in Newark’s Prudential Center. He was the youngest player on a team which features high-level former collegians and international talent. Jonathan, who was enrolled in real estate classes—something the twins have an interest in once their soccer aspirations are fulfilled—was not able to play.
In June, the twins will head to Poland and will travel to Russia in July, to pursue pro opportunities there, and if nothing pans out, will return to South America for prospects in their native Chile or perhaps Peru. They hope to be acquired by a second or third division club in one of those countries, where soccer is more popular than in the United States, and the level of competition on the second division level is equivalent to a first division U.S. squad.
“Soccer is so big there that it’s a way to start,” Jonathan admitted. “It’s hard to go to a first division team and expect to play when we don’t have any professional experience other than indoor and nobody knows us over there. So we have to start at a low level and work our way up. We’re still young, so we think we can do it.”
Edison added: “We had fun playing together for a lot of years but we have to understand there’s a point we have to split up and this might be it. Professional teams will want different positions. We’re going to try to be together as much as we can but now we have to look after ourselves. If we have to split because different teams want different players, we have to understand because it’s better for both of us.”
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