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Northeast Conference

SETH ROLAND
Head Men's Soccer Coach - Fifth season
Record at FDU: (40-32-9)
Career Record: (160-96-21, 14 yrs)

Seth Roland took over the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's soccer program in 1997 with goals of rebuilding it into a Northeast Conference power, a force in the region and bringing it back into the national spotlight. In the four years that Roland has been at the helm, the Knights are 25-6-5 in NEC play and last season he guided the program to its first NEC regular season title, first NEC tournament championship and first NCAA play-in appearance since 1989. Mission accomplished.

The 2000 season saw Roland and the Knights regionally ranked every week of the season. They posted a 13-8-1 overall mark, also the program's highest win total since 1989, and took the NEC title with an 8-2-0 record. Roland was rewarded by being voted NEC Coach of the Year by his peers.

Roland began the process of rebuilding the program by embracing the North Jersey community, recruiting some of the top high school players in the county to play at Fairleigh Dickinson University, keeping them at home. This tactic worked for the veteran coach in his first season heading a Division I program when he signed 14 recruits from the Garden State. The Knights started six freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and one senior. The youthful squad went on to post a 10-8-2 mark overall and finished the conference schedule second with a 4-1-1 record and a berth in the conference tournament. After a 1-0 win against Monmouth in the semifinals, the Knights fell 1-0 to LIU in the NEC Championship game.

His second season brought 12 more natives of New Jersey to the Teaneck school. Roland added four talented veterans of international competition to the squad as well, signing three Israelis and a top-notch goalkeeper from Denmark. The talented mix of players competed in one of the school's toughest soccer schedules in recent memory, playing six teams ranked in the nation's top-25 and losing by just one goal in four contests. While competing at this level, the Knights succeeded in the NEC, finishing second with a 6-2-1 record. A 120-minute, two-overtime affair against Central Connecticut State in the NEC semifinal knocked Fairleigh Dickinson from the tournament, 2-1, and ended the Knights' season with a 7-11-2 overall mark.

The program remained on track to reach its goals in 1999 as Roland continued to expand recruiting on the international frontier. The roster included players from Lithuania, Israel, Canada, Colombia, Aruba and Spain. Roland led that team to a 10-5-4 record, his second 10-win season in three years, and a 7-1-2 mark in NEC play. After a 10-year absence from the regional rankings, the 1999 squad finished the season ranked fourth in the Mid-Atlantic region.

After four years at Fairleigh Dickinson and 14 years overall as a head coach, Roland's career coaching record now stands at 160-96-21, a .631 winning percentage. Roland began his coaching career as an assistant at Columbia University before accepting his first head coaching position at Christopher Newport University. He led the Captains from 1982-87, taking CNU to its only Division III playoff appearance in the 1986 season while finishing ranked 10th in the nation. In his five years at Christopher Newport, Roland accumulated a 53-37-5 record.

From 1987-92, Roland was the head coach at the University of Bridgeport. He led the Purple Knights to three Division II playoff bids, including the 1990 quarterfinals and top-10 rankings in 1988, 1990 and 1991. Roland completed his five years at Bridgeport with a mark of 67-27-7.

In 1992 Roland became the top assistant to Al Albert at the College of William & Mary. During his tenure, he was part of the most successful era in the school's long soccer history. During the five years he was in Williamsburg, Va., the Tribe won two Colonial Athletic Association Tournament Championships, four regular season titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times with two trips to the Sweet 16 and a 1996 trip to the round of eight. In his last three seasons at William & Mary, the Tribe was the only school in the nation to win 18 or more games in those three years, and in his final year the team finished 20-3-1 and ranked fourth in the country.

A 1979 graduate of the University Pennsylvania, Roland was a three-year starter in the midfield. He was honored by being selected to play in four Maccabiah Games for the United States - winning silver in 1981 - and he coached the U.S. team in 1993 and 1997 - leading the squad to a bronze medal in the summer of 1993. Roland and his two daughters, five-year-old Hannah and three-year-old Laura, reside in Tenafly, N.J.