Williston now county’s all-time leader in wins
BY GEORGE ALBANO
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff Sophomore Ibrahim Kamara is one of the top players in the GMC this year, but is one of many great players over the years that has helped North Brunswick head coach Stan Williston accumulate 414 wins in 34 season, the most wins in the county’s history.

Stan Williston had no idea way back in 1974 when he started the soccer program at North Brunswick High School that he’d still be coaching the Raiders 32 seasons later.

But here it is, 2005, and the 53-year-old Williston is still at it. In fact, last Tuesday he became the Middlesex County all-time leader in coaching victories with 411 when North Brunswick beat East Brunswick, 1-0.

“You can’t project how long you’re going to coach when you first start,” said Williston, now 414-131-35 overall following a 2-0 win over Edison last Thursday, a 3-0 victory over St. Joe’s on Saturday and a 2-0 win over J.P. Stevens on Tuesday. “I came out of college and was kind of lucky to become a head coach right away. I didn’t really look too far into the future back then, but after I was there a few years, and one year just blends into another.”

And eventually into 32 years, although that’s not exactly how Williston planned it.

A 1970 graduate of Edison, he played four years of college soccer at the University of Miami.

“After that, I thought about dabbling in some kind of pro career,” he said. “The NASL (North American Soccer League) was just starting in the early ’70s, but it was hard for American players. They were trying to build the league and the foreign players (like Pele) were getting all the money.”

So Williston took a different course of action.

“Coming out of college, one of my goals was to be a physical education teacher and become a coach,” he said. “I came back home in the summer and North Brunswick was a brand-new school and was looking for a soccer coach.”

Williston applied, got the job, and you know how the rest of the story goes.

He started with just a junior varsity team in the fall of 1974 before the program was elevated to varsity status in ‘75.

“We went 1-8-1 that first year, and we haven’t had a losing season since,” Williston says proudly.

Playing in the old Bi-Centennial League from 1975-84 and the newly formed GMC from 1985 to now, Williston’s North Brunswick teams have won multiple conference and division championships. The Raiders have also won the county championship seven times, the sectional title three times, and in 1993 they captured the Group III state championship.

“People ask me ‘how do you do it,’ ” Williston said, “and I tell them I’ve had great players over the years.”

That might be part of the reason. But another big part is Williston himself.

“It’s one of my passions, one of the things I really like,” he said. “It’s just great being with kids. Each year is a different challenge and a different group of players, and in the end you put the best team out there you could.”

The team he put out there last year was pretty good as the Raiders went 18-3, won the GMC Red Division and the county tournament, and advanced to the Group IV sectional semifinals. It was also the first year NBHS moved up from the White Division to the bigger Red Division.

Only four starters are back from that team, which graduated 13 seniors in all. But that’s not unusual for North Brunswick, which loses a core of players each year only to reload with players who gained experience either coming off the bench or playing with the JV and freshmen teams.

The Raiders certainly haven’t shown any effects so far as they’ve gotten off to a 7-0 start and are ranked No. 1 in the county and No. 9 in the state.

“We’re off to a pretty good start,” Williston understated.

What’s more, North Brunswick has won six of the seven games by shutout and has given up only two goals all season, both in a 4-2 win over Piscataway.

Three of the four starters back are senior captains Chris Bronco on defense and Scott Cameron and Scott Decker at midfield. Bronco and Cameron are both three-year starters, while Cameron was also the MVP in the Raiders 2-1 win over J.P. Stevens in last year’s GMC championship game.

The fourth starter back is sophomore forward Ibrahim Kamara, who started as a freshman last season. He and Cameron have combined to score eight of North Brunswick’s 15 goals.

Another player who saw plenty of time is goalkeeper Dan Peragallo, the Raiders’ fourth senior captain, who split time in the nets last year with senior Mike Hernandez. Williston used a unique rotation in which both goalies played a half every game. It worked so well the duo combined for nine shutouts. This season, however, it’s Peragallo’s job all to himself.

Senior Chris Winchock and junior Matt Southgate, who both came off the bench last season, are starting this season on the back line. Shawn McCormack, a midfielder/forward a year ago who also came off the bench, has moved back there as well.

Meanwhile, senior Diego Guzman, who was used both as a starter and reserve last season, returns at midfield and will be joined by Memba Ceesay, a senior transfer from North Jersey.

Those two play in the middle, while juniors Ryan Folger and Aden Rudin rotate at outside midfield opposite Decker.

The Raiders have plenty of depth, too, with junior forward Saro Terpanjain expected to see action, along with junior Dave Kulbida and seniors Adrian Haimouich and Soren Pederson on the back line.

Two more players new to the program who should help in an attacking-type role are Vincent and Eugene Dinescu.

“We’re happy with the way we’re moving the ball,” Williston said. “And I’m happy with the new players filling the roles of the guys who graduated. We’re really starting to jell.”

In the meantime, one season keeps blending in with another for Stan Williston, who says he has no timetable how much longer he’ll coach.

“I don’t know. Maybe a couple of more years,” he said when pressed. “At this point I just take one year at a time and see how it is. But every year it’s a great group of kids that keeps you young. We get great support from the community ,and the parental support has also been great. That’s something as a coach you look for to keep you going.”

Even after 32 years and 414 victories.