Nikolaos Theoudoulidis Named Rookie of the Week

By Jalen Gaynor | Published by November 15, 2021

Nikolaos Theoudoulidis has been named Rookie of the Week by the New Jersey Athletic Conference. One of the Cougars’ soccer standouts was recognized for his exceptional play in recent games.

Coming into the season, one of Theoudoulidis’s goals was to be able to score goals at a high level to help his team win.

“I did see that our top goalscorer was Raonne Dias, number seven,” Theodoulidis said. “I was saying to myself I need a few more goals to be at his level. So that was my goal, getting a few more goals and getting aggressive in front of the net.”

The Rookie began the week by scoring the first goal of the game against Medgar Evers off a double assist from Sergio Martinez and Tabi Essa Jr. The Cougars won the game in a 3-0 shutout.

He followed up his performance with an even more impressive display against New Jersey City University. Scoring the only 2 goals in the second half after a slow start offensively by both teams to start the game.

The midfielder is thankful for this acknowledgment and will use it as motivation for the future.

“I take this as an achievement and I keep moving forward and keep improving,” Theoudoulidis said.

The NJAC consists of 10 teams including Kean’s, which is ranked third place in the standings.

As a freshman, Theoudoulidis has worked hard to get acclimated to the college level and is hopeful about his future.

“It’s a work in progress,” he said. “ It was a little rough at the beginning with injuries and stuff, but now I’ve settled in. Looking forward to the future.”

The Cougars have a strong team atmosphere and they all push each other to get better every day.

“I love the whole team,” Theoudoulidis said. “Everybody is together and we motivate each other. It’s a team game so this award can go out to the whole team because it’s eleven players on the field, not just one.”

Even with his great individual play, Theoudoulidis insists that it is not just about him and that he could not have this success without the help of his teammates and head coach.

Kean men’s soccer head coach Peter-John Falloon stated that he has believed in Theoudoulidis’s abilities on the field for a long time. Coach Falloon expressed confidence in his freshman player despite not always seeing this level of success from a first-year player.

“You don’t see the immediate impact usually, but I recruited Niko for four years and there’s a reason I didn’t stop recruiting him,” Fallon said. “I knew he was a diamond in the rough.”

Coach Falloon went on to discuss how he usually handles freshmen and their playing time in their first season on the team.

“Best man wins the job, you are as good as your current performance,” Falloon said. “The freshman is playing better than the senior guy, freshman plays.”

This kind of philosophy helps give a young player like Theoudoulidis the opportunity to have an impact on the team right away.

“He’s touching the tip of the iceberg. He has a lot more to go. He can do way more and accomplish more, but he’s getting there,” coach Falloon said.

Coach Falloon gave great insight into how the team feels about Theoudoulidis. Although this is only his first year on the team, he has built great chemistry and trust among his teammates.

“He’s an influential player for the team. Players like him, players like his personality on and off the field. They like the way he plays so he has a lot of pull regarding his teammates. He’s also the player with the smartest IQ on the team so he can be very impactful.”

The future seems bright for the Cougars and their freshman Nikolaos Theoudoulidis. They currently have an overall record of 10-4-1 and an NJAC conference record of 5-3.

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