Coaches

Cory Bucur

Cory Bucur enters his second season as Wilmington College's head men's soccer coach in 2023.


In his first season, Bucur led the Quakers to a 12-6-3 overall record and an appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament championship for the first time since 2006. After finishing the regular season 5-2-2 in conference play, Wilmington, as the No. 4 seed, shut out the University of Mount Union 4-0 before upsetting nationally-ranked Ohio Northern University 2-1 in double overtime in the semifinals. The Quakers bowed out to John Carroll University in the tournament title game. Bucur mentored seven individuals to All-OAC honorees including Elorm Dogbey, who also garnered Second Team All-Region honors from the United Soccer Coaches.


Bucur came to Wilmington from Defiance College where he has been the head men's soccer coach for the last three seasons and is the program's winningest coach by percentage. Last season, Bucur was the architect of Defiance's best season in over a decade. The Yellow Jackets, who finished 11-11-1 overall, beat Transylvania University for the first time in program history, and in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament, upset Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for the first time in program history 1-0 to advance to the title game. There, Defiance battled Hanover College to a scoreless draw and came a single penalty kick away from making the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament for the first time. Three of Bucur's seven All-HCAC honorees during his tenure were awarded after that run.


Prior to Defiance, Bucur spent four seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Lake Erie College. He began as a graduate assistant coach and went on to serve as interim head coach for a period of time and then to a full-time assistant coach with the primary responsibility of goalkeeper's coach. Bucur coordinated fundraising efforts, served as the primary contact for alumni relations, and was responsible for the team's social media content. While at Lake Erie, he also worked in the office of admissions to help recruitment efforts of the institution.


Bucur also has experience coaching at the club level as he's worked with the Toledo Celtics for the last three years and Ambassadors FC the three years prior. As a player, Bucur served as a team captain for the Storm for two seasons, garnered All-GLIAC honors, and received multiple academic awards including NSCAA Scholar All-East Region and All-GLIAC Academic Team. He earned two degrees from Lake Erie - a Bachelor's in Adolescent/Young Adult Education and Language Arts in 2015 and a Master's of Business Administration in 2017.


He resides in Wilmington.