Six years ago, Justin
Burroughs, Bucks’ Men’s
Soccer coach, took over a
struggling team that had finished
the prior season with
only three wins. Since then,
Burroughs has helped mold a
high-caliber program that has
included three straight play-off
appearances.
Bucks has five players
returning from last year’s
squad, who went 11-7 and lost
early in postseason play. The
Centurions also have three
returning players from the
2008 season, where they won
both the EPCC and PCAA
championships.
Tom Drabyak, sophomore,
and Josh Baush, sophomore,
will be serving as Co-Captains
for this team and are a force to
be reckoned with. Veterans
will be counted on to help continue
with the success of the
Bucks’ team, and talented newcomers
Damen Custer, Shane
MacFarlane, Dom Tucci and
Jim Traynor are also expected
to be key parts of the Bucks’
team’s game plan.
This year, Bucks’ soccer
team has moved up to join the
National Junior College
Athletic Association (NJCAA)
in Region 19. Region 19 consists
of teams in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey and Delaware.
Burroughs says, “We are
going to do well this season.
We moved up to the National
Junior College Athletic
Association, and if we do well
this season, we can actually
play for Nationals.”
Bucks’ schedule is rigorous,
with five nationally-ranked
opponents on tap. These
include away matches against
Ocean CC (12th), Union CC
(1st) – the defending national
champions-, Brookdale CC
(9th), CC of Morris (10th) and
Mercer CCC (8th for Division
1, scholarship schools).
The Centurions dropped their
first game to Ocean, 2-1, on
Sept. 9. They also lost their
second game to Montgomery,
1-0, on Sept. 14, with the
opposition scoring the game’s
only goal 11 minutes into the
second half.
“We lost to Montgomery and
we looked pretty lazy. We
showed slashes where we
showed skill but our work rate
really needs to improve.”
Burroughs says.
The third game seemed to be
the charm as Bucks beat longtime
rival Northampton, 3-1,
in their first home game on
Sept. 16. Two days later, however,
Bucks’ lost again, losing
to defending national champions
Union 4-0.
Despite the lackluster start to
the season, Burroughs remains
positive.
“At this rate all the games are
going to be crucial. We need to
start picking it up, but I’m confident
we will and we will end
this season strong.”