Name: Josh Ulin

Sport: Soccer

Grade: Junior

Position: Goalkeeper

The lowdown: He’s posted 11 shutouts so far this season, including one in the state tournament quarterfinals, and one in the county tournament as well. Ulin, backed by a strong defense in front of him, has never given up more than two goals in a game.

Coach’s Comment: “He put together a really solid year last year as a sophomore. So coming into his junior year, we knew it was going to be a position that we didn’t really have to worry about. You know, Josh is a tremendous athlete. His reactions are second to none, his reaction time is phenomenal. He has the ability to get his feet or hands to the ball. He’s extremely courageous, powerful. He can kind of service into the box, he can go through people to get to the ball. Good hand-eye coordination. Up to this point, he hasn’t given up a bad goal. He’s one of the main reasons why we are where we are. We have a really balanced team and Josh provides that kind of balance as a goalkeeper.” -Roy Nygren

Comment on his Coach: “He’s the best coach I’ve ever played for. He’s great, he knows what he’s doing, he knows how to win but aside from being a good coach he’s a great person. He’s just full of laughter and energy. He’s a great guy. He’s a guy you want to surround yourself with. [After a win] he’s so happy, he’s always screaming ‘Yeah baby! Here we go!’, he’s always fired up. He loves what he does and that’s special for a coach-to love what he does.” – Ulin

Favorite PV Soccer Memory: Both times the team played Bergen Catholic in the County Tournament. They won in Overtime last year and in Penalty Kicks this year. “Everybody was saying ‘they’re going to win, they’re going to win’ and we beat them and that was just incredible.”

What Made him pursue Soccer: “My dad was a three-year varsity goalie at Pascack Valley also. So growing up, he was like ‘everybody loves guys that play offense, you should play offense don’t play goalie, don’t follow in my footsteps.’ But I look up to my dad so I was like ‘I want to be a goalie.’ And it turns out I ended up being awful in the field anyway so being a goalie ended up working out well for me. You know, I just stuck with it and I enjoy it.”

Favorite Type of Music: “If I have to listen to any music it has to be the Hamilton Soundtrack.”

Favorite Subject in School: History

If he had one Superpower it Would Be….: To eat as much food as possible and not gain weight. “I feel like that’s the greatest superpower ever because I love food.”

Favorite Food: Chicken Parmesan and Caesar Salad

Favorite Teacher: Ms. Kosch. “She’s taught my mom, my sister, my uncle, and she taught my whole family.”

Favorite Aspect of the School: “I like being part of the environment that we have. Just going back to the Ramapo County Final Game, you saw our fans – they were sitting together, cheering together, being loud together. And you look over to the other school and their fans are dispersed. They’re not really together and they’re not doing things together and I like that our school has that togetherness and we strive. I think because we are one tribe.”

Favorite Brand of Clothing: Nike

Favorite TV Show: The Walking Dead. “I’m also a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Four of his Role Models: My dad, Derek Jeter, President Obama, Mr. Cofrancesco

Future Plans: “I’m going to go to college. In terms of playing soccer, I really don’t have a lot of interest. If something big presented itself then maybe but I’d really like to focus on academics going forward.”