Montclair State University Athletics

Joe Cullen helped spark the resurgence of the men’s soccer program in the mid-2000s as Montclair State captured four consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference titles and qualified for four straight NCAA Division III Tournaments. The all-time leader in games played, Cullen scored 16 goals and assisted on 28 others for 60 points. Cullen was a three-time NJAC selection landing on the First Team from 2007-09 and was selected as the league’s Midfielder of the Year in 2009. An All-ECAC pick the same season, he was chosen to the National Soccer Coaches Association All-Region Team three times during the same time period and capped off his career with a selection to the NSCAA Division III All-America Second Team in 2009. Cullen, the current head coach at New Jersey City University, registered a goal and eight assists in his first season with the Red Hawks helping Montclair State to its first NJAC championship in 17 years. MSU posted its first 20-win campaign finishing 20-1-1 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Cullen collected nine points (2 goals, 5 assists) in 2007 as the Red Hawks repeated as conference champion and took another step in the NCAA Tournament with a trip to the Elite 8. His 2008 year would be his finest statistically with eight goals, including four game-winners, along with 10 assists, the first player in 14 years to record double-digits in assists for a season. MSU set the school record for wins going 21-1 advancing to the NCAA Sectional Tournament for the third year in a row. Cullen’s career came to a close in 2009 as he led Montclair State to its fourth straight NJAC championship. The Red Hawks became the first team since Rowan in the mid-1980s to capture four straight crowns. With Cullen on the field, Montclair State compiled a record of 77-7-4, an .898 winning percentage which included a 32-3-1 mark in NJAC play (.903 winning percentage). He ranks third all-time in assists and sixth in game-winning goals (9).