Biography
By Jim Hague
Julie Dantoni had a fine athletic career at Manalapan High School in New Jersey, good enough to earn a scholarship to play soccer at West Virginia Wesleyan, an NCAA Division II program.
However, after a year in West Virginia, Dantoni got a little homesick.
“I saw my parents only three times in the year that I was there,” Dantoni said. “It was hard for me to get playing time there. There were other players who were there three years and they were waiting to play. It meant I had to wait two more seasons to play.”
There were other factors weighing on Dantoni’s mind.
“I was missing classes to play soccer,” Dantoni said. “We had early morning workouts and I was getting behind on my schoolwork. Ever since I was young, playing club soccer, coaches always told me that I should focus on school first. This was different.”
Dantoni decided that she wanted to return to New Jersey. She considered attending Rutgers in New Brunswick and Rutgers-Camden, before she reached out to Rutgers-Newark head coach Bill Bustamante.
“Here’s a kid who could have chosen any school in New Jersey and she chose us,” Bustamante said. “Sometimes, we get lucky. We were very fortunate to have Julie become part of our program.”
Dantoni said that she had little difficulty fitting in with the other members of the Scarlet Raider roster.
“We bonded automatically,” said Dantoni, whose roommate, Paige Lazar, is a fellow transfer from New York University. “All the upperclassmen gave us tours of the campus and gave us the lowdown on what teachers to take and courses to take. They were all welcoming and friendly. We all get along so well.”
As a top defender, Dantoni fit right into Bustamante’s plans.
“She’s a tremendous leader, on and off the field,” Bustamante said. “She’s a consistent worker with amazing speed. She completes the image of a dedicated and unselfish athlete. Julie really summarizes all of that. She’s the first one to training and the last one to leave. She’s always putting the team first. She’s absolutely unselfish. I tell my coaching staff that if I had 11 players like Julie Dantoni, we would play for the NJAC title.”
Bustamante continued to sing Dantoni’s praises.
“She’s probably our most tenacious player,” Bustamante said. “She’s also our fastest. She sacrifices her body. She’s never concerned about getting injured.”
“I guess it started when I was younger,” Dantoni said. “I was never a technical player. I always played defense. One coach told me that I was always going to be a defender, because I didn’t have the skills to dribble past anyone. Since I didn’t have the technical skills, I had to be more of a physical player and that just stuck with me.”
Dantoni said that she’s not worried about her image as a soccer player.
“I’m a nice person off the field, but on the field, I don’t know what I am,” Dantoni said. “If I’m going for the ball, I might have to go through you to get it. Sometimes, I feel real bad about it, but it happens. I have to get to the ball. A lot of the time, it just happens. That’s why I go 100 percent physically. It’s just my style. I get to the ball and get it to my teammates.”
The aggressive style has paid dividends with the Scarlet Raiders, who are one of the most improved teams in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. A year after posting a 5-14-1 record, the Scarlet Raiders are 9-5-1 and in possible position for an NJAC playoff berth.
“We’re finally jelling as a unit and that’s the biggest thing,” Dantoni said. “We do like each other and trust each other, both on and off the field. We have a very cohesive unit and that has a lot to do with our record. We also have good freshmen and transfers. But they all want to play and the newcomers push the upperclassmen. Everyone is working their tails off. We have a saying, ‘Fight together, win together.’ We’re all together.”
A lot of the credit belongs to Dantoni, according to her coach.
“I know that position is worry free,” Bustamante said. “I know she’ll handle the position. She’s one of the best defenders in the NJAC in what she brings to the position. Sometimes, she doesn’t care about her body. She may get banged up, but she keeps on trucking.”
Dantoni is also a resident advisor in the school’s Residence Life organization, showing her leadership skills off the pitch.
“She’s always trying to do extra to help the team,” Bustamante said. “She’s the first one cheering for her teammates, encouraging others.”
“I’m all about the team,” Dantoni said. “I know we’re the first team to win two NJAC games in a row and we’re one win away from the school record. So we’re looking to make history. If we make the NJAC playoffs, that would be the biggest thing. For the first time, we have a shot. We want to make history. It’s not a total shot in the dark. We have a real shot.”
Dantoni is a criminal justice major with the hope of eventually getting to law school. She wants to practice criminal law one day.
It’s another reason why she chose to come to Rutgers-Newark.
“The ultimate goal is to get to law school and Rutgers-Newark has a law school,” Dantoni said. “Rutgers-Newark is great, because it has its own law school. If I can excel in the classroom and on the field, then I can perhaps excel in law school.”
Dantoni knows that can wait.
“I have another year,” said the junior defender. “It’s been a rewarding experience coming here, both in soccer and in academics. I’m much better off with the teammates I have now.”
After all, Dantoni and her teammates have a chance to make history.
