FDU SOCCER CAMP IS RUN BY SETH ROLAND SOCCER CAMP LLC.

Seth Roland Director   Orce Kozeski Assistant Director

 

SETH ROLAND - FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON MEN'S SOCCER HEAD COACH

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 those 13 years, he has guided the program to five NEC tournament championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances, four NEC regular season titles and another NCAA play-in appearance. All totaled with Roland at the helm, the Knights are 89-32-15 in NEC play.

Roland guided FDU to a 13-6-2 overall record in 2008, going 6-2-1 in NEC regular season play to finish second in the league. The Knights knocked off Quinnipiac and Mt. St. Mary’s in the playoffs to capture a fifth NEC Tournament crown and their fourth NCAA Tournament bid. They went 9-3-2 over the last 15 games of the season, and finished the year ranked No. 2 in the region.

Ranking as high as No. 15 in the nation in 2006, FDU won all but one conference game, posting an NEC record of 6-1-2. The Knights posted a 12-5-1 overall record under Roland in 2006, notching a 10-win season for the seventh straight year. The Knights went undefeated in their first eight games, getting off to the program’s best start since 1975.

In 2005, Roland led the Knights to their sixth-straight 10-win season, finishing 10-8-1 overall and advancing to the NEC Championship game for the fifth consecutive year after capturing a fourth NEC regular season crown in five years. They went on to finish the season with a No. 9 ranking in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

In 2003, the Knights became the first team in league history to win four straight Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament titles and captured a third NEC regular season crown in four years. They posted a 14-5-1 record and made a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament to end up ranked No. 23 in the final NSCAA/adidas national poll and No. 1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

In 2002, his Knights made the program's second straight NCAA Tournament appearance after winning their third straight NEC Tournament with a pair of shootout wins. They were selected to host the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1984 and drew a crowd of nearly 500 fans. The Knights didn't disappoint as they won another thrilling shootout over the Holy Cross Crusaders to advance to the second round against third ranked St. John's. They eventually fell to the Red Storm, but not before taking them into double-overtime of a 2-1 loss and finishing the year at 11-5-7.

Roland guided the Knights to their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1989 in the fall of 2001. They made the most of that opportunity with three consecutive upsets of nationally recognized programs to advance to the Elite Eight. They took eventual national champion North Carolina into triple overtime before falling 3-2, but earned the college soccer world's respect as a program that would be a force for years to come. The Knights finished 17-7-0 overall and were rewarded with a number 11 ranking in the season's final national poll. Roland was named Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year after becoming only the second coach in NCAA soccer history to lead teams to the NCAA tournament at the Division I, II, and III levels. He is the first ever to have achieved that with three different institutions and first to have all three teams ranked among the top 15 in the final national poll.

During his first season in 1997, 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 in a talented mix of players that competed in one of the school's toughest soccer schedules to date, 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.

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.

After 12 years at Fairleigh Dickinson and 22 years overall as a head coach, Roland's career coaching record now stands at 250-147-40, a .618 winning percentage.

Roland began his full-time head coaching career when, at age 24, he was appointed to the position at Christopher Newport University. He led the Captains from 1982-87, taking CNU to its first Division III playoff appearance during 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 and 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 of 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, Hannah and Laura, reside in Tenafly, N.J.

ORCE KOZESKI - ASSISTANT COACH

Orce Kozeski is in his seventh year as an assistant coach after a four-year career with the Knights from 1998-2002. Kozeski assists with all facets of the program.

"Orce is a guy who has a great future as a coach with a very good soccer mind," said Roland. "He played four years here, knows our program and played an integral role in our rise."

Kozeski finished his career as a Knight with 18 points on nine goals from the midfield. He was a penalty kick specialist for Roland's squad, tallying a career-best four goals in 2001 as he helped the Knights on their Cinderella run to the NCAA Tournament Elite EIght. In the 2001 NEC Championship game vs. Long Island, Kozeski connected on two penalty kicks, including the game-winner.

Kozeski was born in Ohrid, Macedonia and currently resides in Garfield, NJ. He was a four-year letterwinner at Garfield High School where he earned All-League, All-County and All-State honors. Kozeski is a 2002 graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson with a bachelor's degree in International Business.