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Reuben Burk
Reuben Burk enters his sixth year on the sidelines and fifth as the head coach of the Connecticut College men’s soccer program in 2023. He came to the institution after spending one year at Newberry College, two years at the College of the Holy Cross, and two years at Alfred University.
In 2021 Burk orchestrated the most successful season in school history, as Connecticut College went 19-4-1 and captured the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer National Championship. After securing an overtime victory against Washington & Lee in the semifinals, the Camels prevailed over Amherst in penalty kicks in the title game. It marked the institution's first team national championship in any sport.
In addition to their NCAA success, the Camels also finished atop the NESCAC regular season standings, hosted the league's championship weekend for the first time, and advanced to the championship match of the NESCAC Tournament for the first time in program history. The team's 19 victories were also a school record and bettered the previous mark of 14 established in 1978.
Following the season, Burk was recognized as the D3soccer.com Coach of the Year. He and assistant coach Andrew Storton were also named the 2021 NCAA Men's Division III National Coaching Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches.
Several of Burk's players were also recognized following the historic season. Midfielder Augie Djerdjaj, who netted the Camels' lone goal and converted on a penalty kick in the NCAA title game, garnered All-America honors from both the United Soccer Coaches and D3soccer.com. He was also tabbed NESCAC Player of the Year, and joined teammates Steve Yeonas and Jack Kelesoglu in earning All-NESCAC honors.
In his first season as a collegiate head coach in 2019, Burk led Connecticut College to its most successful postseason run to date. With postseason wins over Catholic, then-No. 3 Johns Hopkins, and Swarthmore, the team’s appearance in the “Elite Eight” marked only the third time a Connecticut College program advanced to the quarterfinal round of an NCAA Tournament in any sport. Conn’s last team to advance that far came in 1999 when men’s basketball advanced to the national semifinal round.
Furthermore, four players - Matt Butera, Djerdjaj, Liam Donelan, and AJ Marcucci - earned All-NESCAC postseason laurels, and three of those student-athletes were recognized as United Soccer Coaches All-New England Region selections. Furthermore, Marcucci was named a United Soccer Coaches All-American First Team selection for the second straight season, Luke Stoneback made the CoSIDA Academic All-District II Team for his efforts on the field and in the classroom, and the Camels were named a United Soccer Coaches All-Academic Team for the 11th straight year by recording a team GPA above a 3.0.
Burk made an immediate impact on the sidelines as the team’s top assistant since his arrival on campus. He helped head coach Kenny Murphy lead the Camels to a 13-3-2 record overall, including a 7-1-2 mark in conference play, as well as an appearance in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The most memorable and successful season in school history at the time was highlighted by Burk guiding the program to its first-ever NCAA postseason victory in a 4-0 rout of Thomas College at home on Freeman Field. Furthermore, the Camels produced one United Soccer Coaches All-American, two United Soccer Coaches All-New England Region selections, the NESCAC Player of the Year, and four student-athletes who earned themselves a place on the All-NESCAC First Team.
At Newberry, Burk was the recruiting coordinator and had the main responsibility of overseeing the recruiting process for all prospective student-athletes, both internationally and domestically. Burk helped establish one of Newberry’s most diverse recruiting classes for 2018 by helping get commitments from Brazil, Italy, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland. He also coordinated recruiting trips to Iceland, Norway, and Spain.
At Holy Cross, Burk helped with a variety of duties including daily coaching, recruiting nationally, scouting, helping plan offseason schedules, game day preparations, travel coordination, community service, and helping run summer camps and clinics.
Burk also served as the assistant coach at Alfred University. The team reached the Empire 8 semifinals in 2014, which marked the program’s first conference tournament appearance in nine years. Burk was also part of a group which earned the 2014 Empire 8 Coaching Staff Award.
As a player, Burk was a four-year student-athlete at Hobart College. Under head coach Shawn Griffin, in both 2009 and 2011, Hobart finished in the top 25 Division III national rankings and made appearances in the NCAA Division III National Tournament. In 2009, Burk helped Hobart win the Liberty League conference championship.
A native of Westford, Massachusetts, Burk graduated from Hobart in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology/sociology and religious studies. He later earned his master’s in business administration from Alfred University in 2015. Burk also holds a USSF C License as well as a NSCAA Advanced National Diploma.
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