First-year soccer stars
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SPORTS
Bucks-news.com
The week of September 24, 2013
BY: STEPHEN GODWIN JR. Centurion Staff
As is the case with any sports team, a transitional period from seasoned veterans to the up-and-coming rookies raises many questions, and, in most cases, offers few answers. But for Bucks Men’s soccer coach Justin Burroughs, those answers have been provided with outstanding success. “There are some first year players that are playing some major roles for us this year,” Burroughs said. At the end of last year Bucks Men’s soccer coach Justin Burroughs said goodbye to some of his main stay all-conference players in forwards James Trainer and Jared Dickson and goalie Michael Klimowicz. This year Burroughs feels the loss of those players is lessened because of some promising first year players. When asked who was standing out in particular Burroughs did not hesitate when he would mention the man guarding his net, goalie Trevor Hopf. “Losing an all- conference goal keeper is tough, but Trevor is doing a fine job in net,” he said. After Hopf, the Centurion defense looks like the strong point of the team. With first
The 2013 Men’s soccer team after a dominating win against the Delaware Pride this past Saturday.
year mid-fielders Ryan Mason and Matt Zarro playing like veterans, it could be tough sledding for opposing offenses. Mid-fielder Joey Cantillio is another player that is impressing early. “He (Cantillio) has really stepped up. In the beginning it was like a deer in headlights, but now he is now he is a lot better is productive every time he is in the game,” Burroughs said. The offense boasts a new scoring threat, as forward Jimmy Haslett is leading his team with four goals already. The ball really has a way of finding him as he spends a lot of time in front of the other team’s net. As far as the offense as a whole Burroughs believes
they are starting to click together. “Now we are starting to put some things together and playing better,”Burroughs said. “Everyone is starting to get to know each other and understand their roles and understand what the college game is about.” Burroughs is not alone though as he does have some returning players to boost his team and inspire the young players. Headlining them is mid-fielder Stefan Hofmann who was elected second team all-region. The others feature tri-captains forward Sean Kurtz, back Wayne Horger Jr, and back Erik Mazurkiewicz. Mid-fielder Shane Nicolo is also returning, but has joined the team late as he tries to
PHOTO CREDIT: BUCKS ATHLETICS PAGE
shake off rust. Schedule-wise, the Centurions are 2-3-2 with two of the three loses coming against Division I schools who offer scholarships to incoming players. Bucks does not offer scholarships and their players often have to work keeping soccer from being their primary focus. The first two losses came at the start of the season, but the Centurions went four games since without a loss. This is something Burroughs credits with the maturation of his team. “I think everybody is starting to figure out that this is not high school anymore where if your fast you’re faster than everybody else and if you’re good you can
dribble past everybody so just understanding the difference in level of play,” said Burroughs. The Centurions did have early season scoring trouble by being held to one goal in each of four straight games. They have since exploded for nine goals on Sept. 14 against Harrisburg Area Community College. “Now we are at the point where we really need to start winning some games if we want to make the playoffs and get a halfway decent seed,” Burroughs said. For Burroughs and all of Bucks, the Men’s Soccer team looks poised for some dynasty-level success with contributions all over the field.
Haslett would tie the game on a well-placed kick. “I got the ball on my feet and I saw the other team was coming in hard so I just started cutting it back and then just put it in the net,” Haslett said. The level of play rose in Centurion players from there and they would keep Mustang goalie Brett Bosler busy for the rest of the afternoon. The mostly-freshmen Centurion squad would come out of the gate aggressive, but that early eagerness translated into angst. After some pregame-jitters wore off, they were able to get the ball into Those missed opportunities would keep the Mustangs alive long enough to match the Centurion’s intensity. During overtime the two teams would also be battling the elements as a heavy rain began to fall. The Centurions kept the ball in the Mustang zone longer, but would come away empty. After the game, Burroughs seemed impressed with his team’s rally. “It was probably one of the best halves we played in the second because we actually played with some intensity, Burroughs said.
the Mustang zone, but had trouble getting a shot on goal. The Centurion offensive strategy seemed to be to rush the ball off one of first time goalie Trevor Hopf’s booming kicks. The Mustang defense would let the Centurions in deep, but had a “bend don’t break,” mentality. The Centurion defense did impress in front of their rookie goalie as they would squash a couple of breakaway attempts by the Montgomery forwards. After a Centurion penalty, Mustang forward Sean Treacy would open the scor-
Centurions tie Mustangs in double overtime game BY: STEPHEN GODWIN JR. Centurion Staff
The Bucks County Centurions (1-2-2) gave the Montgomery Community College (1-2-2) Mustangs all they could handle, but would settle for a tie after double overtime for a 1-1 score on Sept. 12 at Montgomery. The Centurions had played a solid first half of soccer, but still found themselves down 1-0 at the break. That’s when head coach Justin Burroughs would rally his team with a fiery half-time speech. Three minutes into the second half, Centurion forward James
BUCKS SCORES Men’s soccer September 12 Bucks 1-1 Montgomery
September 14 Harrisburg CC 1-9 Bucks September 17 Bucks 0-5 Burlington Women’s soccer September 10 Bucks 0-3 Union
September 17 Raritan Valley 1-0 Bucks
Centurion mid-fielder Geremy Sholtz battling fo the ball.
ing on a free kick that gave his team a 1-0 advantage. “I just tried to bend it to the wide post because he (Hopf) left the wide post open, Treacy said. There (Bucks) wall was not centered so I just went right for it.” Injury to insult followed the Centurions into the locker room when mid-fielder Daniel Robinson would injure his hamstring at the final gun. Burroughs was not happy with his team’s lack of urgency and preached more teamwork and less selfish play. The team responded, and changed their strategy as
PHOTO CREDIT: JUSTIN BURROUGHS
they were playing off their defense to get additional chances for their already hungry offense. The Mustangs were forced to rely on their defense to ward off the swarming Centurions that repeatedly threatened their net. On one such play Treacy would help out his goal tender by making a diving stop in the net’s crease. For the most part it was the Centurions who would keep themselves out of the net. “It was just unlucky really, Haslett would later say. We were hitting the crossbar and the one I had on the goal tender I just put it wide.”
PRO SCORES
Philadelphia Eagles September 15 Chargers 33-30 September 19 Chiefs 26-16
Philadelphia Phillies September 22 Mets 4-3 Phillies September 23 Phillies 0-4 Marlins
September 24 Phillies 2-1 Marlins