Public Hearing Held For Sanitary Waste Site - Milford LIVE!

Buc Booters Reach Goal,Now Aim HigherBy Kevin EickmanWith most athletic programs success is often measuredin increments and over the last few years Milfordsoccer has been steadily improving. In a yearthat took so many twists and turns, the Bucs whereforced to overcome injury and adversity in order tosecure a coveted State tournament bid. After fallingto Sussex Central on the next to last game of the season,the Buccaneers traveled to Woodbridge needinga victory to secure the final tournament birth. Milfordresponded with a rousing 5-0 win “The teamdid very well, in a big game,” said Coach Ken Outten.“We overcame so much just to have a chance tobe in that position, and we played a great game.”The win gave Milford an 8-5-2 regular season recordand the tournament birth that was a major goalat the start of the season. In the first round of theState Tournament Milford faced top seeded, two timedefending State Champions Salesianum and lost bya final of 6-0. While it is easy to take a look at thescore and think it a poor result, Coach Outten wasthrilled with how the team responded after fallingbehind early in the contest. “While nobody wants tolose by a score like that, the fact that we battled andplayed well in the second half of the game was veryimpressive,” commented Outten. “There is no wayyou can be ready when you play a team as skilled asthat for the first time but once we got our footing wedid better.”Looking back on the season, Outten was happywith the overall accomplishments of the team “Ourgoal from the beginning was to make the tournament,that was a big step for us,” he added, “With what thisteam battled through this season it was quite an accomplishment.”It was a year that forced players tostep up, dig a little deeper and try a little harder. Thatis exactly what they did in a season where they couldnever seem to get a completely healthy lineup on thefield “We had a great many obstacles this season, butthe guys never gave up,” commented Outten.Coach Outten was very happy with how hard thewhole team worked and offered some praise for a fewplayers that looked to put in the extra effort to improvetheir game. Sophomore Brandon Perez developedinto a serviceable halfback with a big upsidethanks to his hard work. “Brandon played up in theKirkwood league and kept on getting better as theseason went on,” said Outten. Along with Perez, seniorConnor Lingo had a solid year. “Connor battledinjury all season long but he kept on battling, kepton getting better.”Teams aren’t successful without leadership, and thisseason Coach Outten felt that several players steppedup and provided it at various times. Senior goalkeeperBrent McFarland rose to the occasion time andtime again. “It’s very hard to be a leader when youpretty much stay on one end of the field but that’sjust what Brent did,”commented Outten.“He wasvery vocal, made sure guys where in position and healways made the big save when we needed to haveone.”Next season will be one in which the Buccaneerslook to continue to improve. The biggest need willbe at goalkeeper with McFarland departing. Outtenis hoping that junior Carlos Hernandez will be ableto step up next season “Carlos played mostly on thefield this season but we think he has the tools to dothe job.” He added “It will be all about the workthat the guys put in during the offseason, you get outwhat you put into it.” Milford will have to continueto improve if they want to make it to the next levelbut the steady improvement over the last few yearsbodes well for a program on the rise.