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Aaron Nielsen ,

December 21, 2017 Email

Aaron Nielsen



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The post-secondary 2017 soccer season was an interesting year in both United States and Canada. Unlike the past few years, Canada didn't have a "5 Star" prospect to keep an eye on. At the same time, more Canadian Men played NCAA soccer than ever before, while competition in USports and CCAA here in Canada were as impressive as they have ever been. These are both positive occurrences, yet difficult in terms of finding interesting and high profile stories to write about. Of course the biggest story for me in 2017 was the potential influence of the Canadian Premier League. This was also true for both the top Canadian players in NCAA, CIS, CCAA and other college systems, but I was also watching non-Canadian players in NCAA and their potential future role in the CanPL. In terms of my 2017 NCAA Soccer Division 1 All-Canadian Team, the thing that stuck out to me is the number of underclassman that interested me compared to seniors, which is good in terms of CanPL’s rumoured start date being 2019. Two seniors, Goalkeeper Jason Beaulieu and attacking midfielder Austin Ricci, have both expressed an interest in playing pro and wouldn't surprise me if they make a USL side in the United States next season. I don't see any players who would qualify for a Canadian Generation Adidas Contract this year, with the only option being Kamal Miller and if he was to except a GA contract I feel he would go in the late first round or second round of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft. I don't have the time to give it the coverage it deserves, but I should mention the continued success of Canadian Women playing NCAA Soccer with Jessie Flemming at UCLA indentified as one of the top players in the Women's game. While Rebecca Quinn at Duke, Amandine Pierre-Louis, Carla Portillo & Bianca St Georges at West Virginia, Vanessa Gregoire at Princeton, Paige Culver & Vital Kats at Kent State, Evelyne Viens at South Florida, Kendra Price at New Hampshire, Victoria Pickett, atWisconsin, Carly Alfano at Xavier, Vanessa Gilles at Cincinnati, Kayla Adamek at Central Florida, Marie Levasseur at Memphis, and Deanne Rose at Florida - all were given All-American acknowledgement in 2017 and future proof we need a female professional league or club in Canada. GK - Jason Beaulieu, New Mexico



The Montreal Impact Academy player finished his four-year career as a four-year starter with New Mexico University. Beaulieu played 69 games with the Lobos, allowing 64 goals, securing 22 shutouts and .792 Save Percentage. In terms of 2017, it was not his best season as New Mexico failed to make the National Tournament, but Beaulieu did have a .818 save percentage FB - Alex Comsia, North Carolina



Comsia was part of handful of Canadian players who made it to the College Cup Final Four, losing in the semi-finals to Indiana. He's also been in my All-Canadian team at full-back the past three seasons. Comsia, who is now a Junior, has played in 61 NCAA games, while starting 56 of them. He is a Vancouver Whitecaps residency program player who also played with FC Strasbourg in France. Comsia also represented Canada at different levels in his career. He is one of the smarter defenders in the College game, and will either be on MLS or CanPL clubs’ radar next season. CB - Kamal Miller, Syracuse



2017 was a difficult season for the Syracuse Orange, finishing last in the ACC Atlantic and not making the NCAA Tournament. This means Kamal Miller was not given the spotlight or end of season awards for his play and will mostly likely return to school next year for his senior season. Miller scored 2 goals in 16 games and during the this season he also played against some of the top strikers in NCAA soccer with Miller showing why I rank him as top Canadian prospect in NCAA Division 1 soccer. CB - Nyal Higgins, Oakland



Higgins is another player who returns to my All-Canadian team, with the 6'2/175 Central Defender once again had a strong season with Oakland. The Sophomore was also named to the Horizon League All-League team scoring 2 goals in 16 games. The former Ajax youth player’s, who also played League1 Ontario with Vaughan, school needs more success for him to gain MLS attention, but should be sought after by CanPL sides. FB - Eric de Graaf, Portland



With the ability to play all positions on the back line, Eric de Graaf established himself as starter in 2017 playing 14 games, scoring a goal and adding two assists after being used as reserve during his freshman season. A Vancouver Whitecaps Residency player, he played 81 games with the Whitecaps USSDA side helping them make the national playoffs each season, including USSDA U18 Championship finalists in 2016. De Graaf played with TSS FC Rovers this past summer in PDL before this year’s college season. MF - Munir Saleh, UCONN



I've mentioned Saleh a few times in my past articles as he's a player who I enjoy watching. Not a player who will get many goals and assists, but it is how he reads the game which has allowed him to be a essential player for UCONN in just his second season at the school. Salah played 17 games for UCONN in 2017 as their holding midfielder, adding two assists. Prior to UCONN the Kitchener native played for Vancouver Whitecaps, Vaughan, Canada's U-17 national team and for his home club KW United in PDL. MF - Callum Montgomery, Charlotte



The Victoria native played his third year at UNC Charlotte helping the club reach the National Tournament. Montgomery has started 50 games with Charlotte scoring 8 goals, most from his thunderous shot. In 2017 he started all 19 games scoring 3 goals and adding 2 assists and was named to the NCAA All-Regional team as well as winning First-Team Conference USA honors. Montgomery will return to UNC Charlotte for his senior season and will be one to watch for CanPL scouts. MF - Vana Markarian, Columbia



Markarian was a player I had an eye but wasn't expecting him to break in my top 11, although a six game winning streak saw Columbia reach the National Tournament until losing to the number one ranked seed Wake Forest. Markarian was born in Iran, moved to Ottawa and eventually moved to Vancouver where he eventually captained the Whitecaps USSDA team before joining Columbia. A leader on the pitch, Markarian has been acknowledged for his success at Columbia being All-Ivy twice and on the Eastern Regional Team in 2017. MF - Alistair Johnston, Saint John's



Johnston has been a known product in the Toronto soccer scene for a few years, moving up the ranks with Auroa and then Vaughan winning the U18 OYSL Championship in 2015 and being called in the Canadian U20 Identification camp. Now in his second season at Saint John's, Alister took a more offensive role scoring 6 goals and adding 4 assists and improved on his 4 goals during his freshman season and was the school’s leading goalscorer. Johnston may be moved to forward as his college career continues, as he has shown to be a strong presence in the 18-yard box, including being a great header of the ball. MF - Austin Ricci, Oakland



It probably not the way Ricci wanted to end his college career, as there were high expectations for Oakland in 2017, including making it to the National Tournament. Despite beating Michigan and Ohio State, the team failed to reach that goal. Even without team success, Ricci showed his ability as an attacking player scoring 8 goals on the season in 17 games. He finished his NCAA career scoring 22 goals while adding seven assists in the process. He was also named to the All-Horizon first team. Currently Ricci is on trials in hopes of gaining a professional club for next season. ST - Ethan Beckford, Penn State



Beckford is the first high profile TFC Academy player of this current generation to continue his career in NCAA Soccer. He soon established himself as the Penn State starting forward and ended his Freshman season with 5 goals and an assist in 16 games and being named to the Big-10 All-Freshman Team. Beckford, who comes from a family of pro soccer players, was a dominant player with Richmond Hill before moving to the TFC Academy where he scored 20 goals in 23 games with TFC III in League1 Ontario. I expect him to be a dominating player in NCAA and identified both as an MLS and CanPL prospect in four years time. Honorable Mentions

A number of players deserve an honourable mention for strong 2017 seasons and players to watch as they progress. Dayne St Clair became the starting goalkeeper at Maryland, Adam Malekos was an all-league defender at Albany, while Justyn Thomas at Memphis and Mathieu Laurent at UAB are defenders with pro potential. Bayley Winkel of Robert Morris was the only Canadian to score 10 goals in 2017, yet there is a number of exciting players on the offensive side of the ball including Massimo Ferrin at UAB, Sameer Fathazada at Oral Roberts, Scott Menzies at Washington, Noah Pio has been exciting at Cleveland State and Marcel Zajac at Akron.

Aaron Neilsen is a co-founder of Prospect XI (Prospect Eleven), a scouting network and online magazine dedicated to tracking/highlighting young players that refer to as "prospects" as well as their development pathways both within North America and worldwide. Follow PXI via www.prospectxi.com or on twitter @ProspectXI.