Bits of this may be grossly outdated after yesterday, but I wrote it, so you’re getting it.

Shambolic as they were in defence, TFC II hardly struggled for goals in 2018. They netted 42 times, which tied them with Nashville as 15th highest-scoring team in USL. Those good old Kickers brought up the rear with just 30.

One cause for concern: half that team’s tally came courtesy of Hamilton, Akinola and Endoh, and there’s no reason believe we’ll see that trinity reunited this season.

So, here are the kids Rabasca will be hoping can pick up the slack…



Jordan Perruzza

Besides the second coming of Captain Tsubasa, another bright spot at the very end of last season were this kid’s cameos. Consecutive goals in back-to-back games, both as a second-half substitute against decent opposition, were the glimpses some of us needed of what might be to come against D3’s less well-paid seasoned opposition.

The only dampener on that mood was the season-ending 0:0 draw away at Penn FC Harrisburg City Islanders. Without any of the trinity present, he walked off in the 68th minute with just a yellow card for his troubles.

Speaking of performing against (supposedly) lesser opposition, he banged in a half-decent free-kick during Canada’s forgettable CONCACAF U20 campaign.



Jayden Nelson

This lad was clearly an early bloomer. By ten, his youth team coaches had already dubbed him “Primetime” (a nickname this blog has every intention of reviving), and in 2017, he captained Canada at the CONCACAF U15 Championship.

The romantic in me would love to see him and Perruzza heading up a classic 4-4-2, but that small heap of wingers (not including Saint Tsubasa) tells you there’ll be a minimum of three guys up top at all times. Instead, we (and he) will have to wait until he grabs whatever chance Rabasca throws him and proves he’s ready for prime-time.



Jacob Shaffelburg

Allegedly the one good news story to come out of the Pantsing In Panama™ , I wasn’t totally sold it wasn’t everyone else playing like sh*t that made him look good.

Still, if you take the hype at face-value, Jacob Shaffelburg – or ‘Shaff’ as I’ll be calling him for the rest of the season (can you dig it?) – will someday be talked about in HFX Wanderers circles as the one that got away.

The kid sure had a glittering high school ‘career’ (if that’s really the word to use). By all accounts, he was the toast of the Massachusetts prep school soccer scene, which is nice. Sarcasm aside, should a record of 16 goals and 12 assists in 19 games oblige even the most doubtful doubter to give him a shot?

You’re damned right.



Griffin Dorsey

Generation Adidas: saving good players from the NCAA since 2005. Here’s hoping that holds true for Griff. His numbers in college were nothing special – some goals here, some assists there – but at 20, there’s more room for growth than the average draftee.

Despite his less-than-ideal professional debut at the Pantsing In Panama™, which he left in the 77th minute with his first professional booking to remember it by, I’m happy to pin that on Vanney’s hubris for playing him at all. Talk about deep ends!



Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty

The MLS guys who signed Freddy Adu have a lot of answer for. Will another 14-year-old ever be able to sign a pro soccer contract in North America without someone invoking the name of that Las Vegas Lights legend?

Guilty as charged.

No one’s anointing young Jack as anything yet, which shows impressive restraint given his goal-to-game ratio for the Reds’ U15s worked out at 1.6 per match. Yeah, it’s all age-group level stuff, but there’s the silhouette of a tricky winger there.

I’m not sure how much travel the age-group teams are subjected to, but I’ll take a punt and prophesize we won’t see much of JMR until TFC II start playing home games in late May. However, as and when he does debut, I’ll be backing him to challenge Griff for that right-wing spot, because what’s soccer without a little blind optimism?

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