Ray Burse, Jr. (born October 2, 1984 in

Prospect, Kentucky Prospect is a home rule-class city in Jefferson and Oldham counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The Jefferson County portion is a part of the Louisville Metro government. The population was 4,698 at the time 2010 census. It is one of the weal ...

) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Career

College and amateur

Burse attended St. Xavier High School in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. His 162 career saves and 1.11

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

(GAA) has left him as one of OSU's best goalkeepers to date. In high school Burse was named an All-American playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. In 2005 Burse also played for

Chicago Fire Premier Chicago Fire U-23 was an American soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 2001, the team last played in the PDL, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. They last played in 2016, choosing to leave the PDL. Th ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, finishing the year with an impressive 0.68 GAA.

Professional

Burse was drafted in the third round of the

2006 MLS Superdraft The 2006 MLS SuperDraft, held in Philadelphia on January 20, 2006, was the seventh incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection originally belonged to Chivas USA, but they traded it to the MetroStars for the fift ...

and played on the F.C. Dallas reserve squad. During the 2006 season for FC Dallas, Burse made no first team starts, but was regular on the reserve squad. Burse made his professional debut in Dallas' 1-1 draw with

C.D. Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divi ...

in the opening match of the SuperLiga on July 24, 2007. He made his first MLS league appearance in a 1-0 win against

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

on August 4, 2007. In 2008, he was loaned out to the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

. He returned to Dallas on June 4, 2008, after starting in ten games and recording six clean sheets. He made his first of two starts on June 1, 2008 in a 2-1 loss against the

. Ray served as the backup goalie in 20 regular-season games for

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

during the 2008 MLS regular season. Burse signed a short-term contract with the Columbus Crew on February 19, 2011 due to injuries to the team's top two goalkeepers He made two starts for the Black & Gold in both legs of the Crew's 2010-2011

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

quarterfinal series against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

. In game one on February 22, 2011 in

Columbus Crew Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 u ...

, Burse went on to post a shutout in the 0-0 stalemate. He was named the player of the match via text message voting by fans. On March 15, 2011 he was released by the Crew. On March 29, 2011 it was announced that the

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

had signed Burse for the 2011 season. This season proved to be a tremendous comeback for Burse. He anchored the Islanders' defense to one of the best goals against average in the league and a play off berth.

Personal life

He is the oldest of the three sons of

Raymond Burse Raymond M. Burse is a college administrator, Harvard educated lawyer, and businessman who served two terms as the ninth and fourteenth President of Kentucky State University. Burse attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky where he majored in ...

.Brandon, Steve. "Academics came first for Timber goalie," ''Portland Tribune'', April 14 2008.
Retrieved December 8, 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burse, Ray 1984 births Living people American soccer players Association football goalkeepers Ohio State Buckeyes men's soccer players Chicago Fire U-23 players FC Dallas players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Columbus Crew players Puerto Rico Islanders players North Carolina FC players People from Oldham County, Kentucky Soccer players from Louisville, Kentucky USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL First Division players North American Soccer League players St. Xavier High School (Louisville) alumni FC Dallas draft picks