Bowdoin’s Cullen gains honor

Most coaches agree, and John Cullen of Bowdoin College is no exception, that the highest honor bestowed upon them is recognition by their peers.

Cullen was so honored Jan. 15 when he was named the 1992 Division III Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association. Earlier, he had been named one of six Coaches of the Year from five regions.

The national honor is a first for Cullen, who was a regional honoree in 1989. It is a most significant one for this New England coach.

“When your fellow coaches vote for you, it is really something special,” he said. “And I know it took a tremendous amount of support from my own region.”

The honor for Cullen is significant, specifically, because the Brunswick college is a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference. That conference, by vote of its members, does not allow teams to compete in the national tournament.

“Because of our NESCAC affiliation, the award for the 1992 season has to be part of a cumulative effect since we do not make an appearance in a national tournament,” he explained.

“We have a national Division III tournament, with 20 teams, and Bowdoin isn’t there. So somebody certainly would ask, `who’s Cullen, or why Bowdoin?’ ”

But the national situation was different this year, Cullen said.

“The Univerity of Massachusetts-Dartmouth progressed all the way to the finals and lost 1-0 to Cortland (N.Y.) State. And although it was ranked third in the last NCAA poll, it was No. 6 in New England. So, I think that made some people wake up and see the strength of New England.”

Bowdoin, ranked third throughout most of the season in the ECAC, won that championship this season.

New England has never even had four teams in the NCAAs, Cullen said, although NESCAC teams such as Bowdoin, Bates and Williams have consistently been ranked anywhere from No. 2 through No. 5, nationally.

In the past, Cullen said, “There was no way the NCAA would take a team that was ranked sixth in its region, but the committee did this year, and that team went all the way to the finals. That shows the strength of the New England pecking order.”

That perspective aside, however, it still was the 1992 season for which Cullen was honored, and that credit, rightfully, rests with this year’s team.

“Any time we have a season like we did, it is obviously a special group; a very special blend,” Cullen said.

“We had tremendous leadership from our senior co-captains, Julie Roy (a forward from Upper Frenchville) and (midfielder) Alicia Collins.”

Bowdoin’s four senior starters all received postseason awards.

York forward Carol Thomas was named to the Division III All-America second team and goaltender Caroline Blair-Smith earned All-New England honors. Roy and Collins were each named to the All-Maine team.

A fifth Bowdoin honoree was junior forward Katherine Gould, who was named to the All-America third team.

“It was the leadership and, obviously the ability,” Cullen said. “But then what really helped this year was a strong nucleus in the first-year class.”

Cullen went on to explain that these rookies brought a certain levity to the program.

“We only had one starter in that class,” he said.

But it was the “critical mass” of rookies, he added with a “light-hearted, devil-may-care attitude” natural to rookies “who don’t understand how serious it gets, who don’t know the difference between the strength of Team A or Team B, who don’t know the past history, and who don’t know the intensity of the rivalry” that gave this team something extra.

What the rookies did for Bowdoin, he said, “was just to go out there and play. That calmed us down.”

Bowdoin finished 14-2-1, bringing Cullen’s eight-year record to 84-37-7.