This week, The Daily Princetonian goes On Tap with senior forward Brandon Busch to learn the good, the bad and the amusing sides of life on the men’s soccer team.
Busch has played an integral role on the Tigers’ front line since arriving at Princeton. A shifty sparkplug coming off the bench, Busch led the Tigers in scoring with six goals during his sophomore year. This season, Busch found his way onto the score sheet in Princeton’s 3-2 loss to Patriot League opponent Lehigh. In this On Tap, Busch shares stories from his four years on the soccer team.
Q: What was your “welcome to college” moment?
A: I had a roommate freshman year that played Counter-Strike all night long and slept all day ... It was pretty awkward trying to talk to girls while hearing “Terrorists win!” coming from his computer.
Q: What is the greatest highlight of your sports career?
A: A tie between being a part of the first club soccer team to ever win three national championships in a row, and scoring the first (men’s) goal on Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium ... The women’s team played before us and won, 2-1.
Q: Who is your quirkiest teammate? Why?
A: [Junior midfielder] Manny Sardinha. Basically every story about him ends with the phrase “That’s just Manny being Manny.”
Q: What was your most embarrassing moment at Princeton?
A: During a match against Seton Hall my freshman year, I was running to the bench to celebrate my assist on the tying goal, and [I] tripped and fell flat on my face. I proceeded to do an army crawl, pretending it was my celebration ... Coach [Jim] Barlow ’91 has never let me live that down.
Q: What is the best part about being an athlete on campus?
A: Being able to rely on your teammates in any situation that arises. I don’t think non-athletes have the same support system as we do when we first step foot on campus.
Q: What is the worst part about being an athlete on campus?
A: Trying to escape The Tribe.
Q: What is your least favorite thing about soccer?
A: This may sound cliche, but I have loved playing soccer since I was 4 years old, and there’s nothing I can say I don’t like about it — well, maybe having to deal with the refs.
Q: If you were your coach for a day, what would you do?
A: Play trees versus trolls all day. It’s a game we play on the soccer team that teams up all the taller players versus all the smaller players. The trolls haven’t lost in five years.
Q: Does the team have any odd rituals?
A: No, not really. We always take a plaque out onto the field in memory of Robert Myslik ’90, who was a former player and assistant coach at Princeton, but it’s more out of respect than anything else.
Q: What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not practicing?
A: Going on long romantic walks through campus — most of the time by myself — and hanging out in my No. 32 bropad.
Q: What music inspires you?
A: I would definitely say the music of The Plagiarists and The MashMaticians ... Admittedly, I listen to a lot of Michael Buble in my warm up mix before games.
Q: Who did you root for in the World Cup?
A: Obviously the United States, but when the team went out of the tournament I wanted Spain to win since I have family from Barcelona.
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