Adrian Kekec (born May 28, 1985) is a Canadian

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 of Slovenian descent, who currently plays for

FK Pelister FK Pelister ( mk, ФК Пелистер) is a Macedonian football club based in the city of Bitola, North Macedonia. They are currently competing in the Macedonian Second League. History FK Pelister, was formed in 1945. In 1946 they won the Bitol ...

in the First Macedonian Football League. Kekec is a versatile attacker who can play both as a winger and

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 ...

Career

Youth and College

Kekec was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and went to

Alpha Secondary School Alpha Secondary"For School Data, SourceBC Schools Book." ''Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Education'' January 16, 2006. is a public high school in Burnaby, British Columbia part of School District 41 Burnaby. Academics Alpha Secondary ...

in Burnaby, BC. After graduating he played college soccer for the

Capilano Blues Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunsh ...

. After a very strong showing in his first year of collegiate soccer, Kekec transferred to Trinity Western University where he would go on to have a very successful

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

career breaking numerous records at TWU including most goals in a single season and all-time leading scorer.

Professional

In the summer of 2008, Kekec signed with then Slovenian PrvaLiga side

NK Ivančna Gorica Nogometni klub Ivančna Gorica ( en, Ivančna Gorica Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Ivančna Gorica or simply Ivančna Gorica, is a Slovenian football club which plays in the town of Ivančna Gorica. They play in the Ljubljana Region ...

but decided to forgo to finish his last year of eligibility with TWU. Shortly after finishing his collegiate career he signed with HNK Sloga Mravince. Kekec made an instant impact with Sloga Mravince and quickly became a fan favourite in his attacking midfield role.

NK Solin NK Solin is a Croatian football club based in the town of Solin, near Split, playing in the 2. HNL, the Croatian second division. History Arguably the team's greatest success was winning the 1980–81 Croatian league, which earned Solin promot ...

began to take notice of his playmaking ability after a Sloga Mravince match in which Kekec gathered the ball from half and beat five opponents in succession before unselfishly laying the ball off to a teammate to tap into the open net. During the 2010 winter transfer window,

successfully acquired the attackers services. The speedy forward spent the later half of 2010 to 2012 playing for Vancouver Olympics, a club which has served as a stepping stone to professional football for many Canadian players including FC Twente goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes and Toronto FC midfielder Gianluca Zavarise. After two impressive seasons for Vancouver Olympics FC under coach Dino Anastopulos, Kekec signed with FK Pelister on January 22, 2013. During the second half of the 2012–13 season he played with FK Pelister in the

Macedonian First League The Macedonian First Football League ( mk, Прва македонска фудбалска лига, ''Prva Мakedonska Fudbalska Liga''), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competiti ...

.Adrian Kekec
at Soccerway

Notes

:A. Played with

Fraser Valley Mariners Fraser Valley Mariners is a Canadian soccer team based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 2003, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Division ...

during 2008 and on loan in 2011-2012 from Vancouver Olympics FC.

References

External links

Trinity Western Spartans Bio
1985 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian men's soccer players Capilano University alumni Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in North Macedonia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia FK Pelister players Fraser Valley Mariners players NK Ivančna Gorica players NK Solin players USL League Two players Soccer players from Vancouver {{Canada-footy-bio-stub