Oleksander "Alex" Semenets (March 10, 1990 – late August 2020) was a Canadian professional soccer player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Early life

Semenets moved from his native Ukraine to Canada in 1998, settling in Mississauga, Ontario. He attended Iona Catholic High School and played club soccer for the Oakville Blue Stars before joining the Vancouver Whitecaps residency program in 2007.

Club career

Semenets played with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Residency Whitecaps FC Academy is a Canadian soccer team, the academy of professional team Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as ...

squad 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 syst ...

season in 2008 and 2009, helping his team to the PDL playoffs in his debut season, before being called up to the senior

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

side following the conclusion of the 2009 PDL season. He made his first-team debut on July 25, 2010, in a match against the

NSC Minnesota Stars NSC may refer to: Sport and competition * NSC United, an American soccer team * National Scholastics Championship, an American quiz bowl competition * National Scrabble Championship, now known as the Scrabble Players Championship * National Sho ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute. On March 5, 2011 Semenets signed with

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to 2017. The club went on hiatus when NASL ceased competitive operat ...

, an expansion club in the second division

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 ...

. The club re-signed Semenets for the 2012 season on October 12, 2011. In 2014 he briefly appeared for Cape Breton University.

International career

Semenets received his first national team call-up for the Canadian under-17 team in April 2006 for the Ballymena U-16 Tournament. He subsequently played for Canada at the

2007 CONCACAF U17 Tournament The 2007 CONCACAF U17 Tournament was played in Honduras and Jamaica. Qualification United States, Canada received automatic qualification to the finals. Honduras and Jamaica qualified as hosts. Nonetheless, Jamaica participated the CFU Yo ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, making three appearances. In September 2009, Semenets was named to the Canadian under-20 team for the

2009 Jeux de la Francophonie The 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie (''6th Francophone Games''), was an international multi-sport event held from 27 September to 6 October in Beirut, Lebanon. Organization The organization of the Jeux de la Francophonie is entrusted by the local a ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. In the first match of the tournament against Rwanda, Semenets came off the bench to score two goals in a 3–2 loss. In the second and final group stage match against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, he received his first start and scored the second goal in a 2–0 win which enabled Canada to advance from the group stage on goal difference. Semenets started in the semi-final against

Congo Republic The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

and after the match went to penalties after finishing 2–2, Semenets scored Canada's lone penalty as they lost the shootout 2–1. He also appeared off the bench in the consolation match against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, a 3–1 loss.

Death

On September 4, 2020,

released a statement announcing Semenets' passing the previous week, accompanied by statements from former teammates and coaches, including Philippe Davies,

Gagan Dosanjh Gagandeep Dosanjh (born 1 November 1990) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder. Club career Youth Born in Abbotsford, British Columbia to Pavinder and Gurpal Dosanjh, both Indian immigrants from Punjab. Dosanjh s ...

Randy Edwini-Bonsu Randy Edwini-Bonsu (born April 20, 1990) is a Canadian soccer player who last played for FC Edmonton in the Canadian Premier League. Club career Early career Edwini-Bonsu started playing soccer when his family immigrated from Ghana to Edmonto ...

Ethan Gage Ethan Gage (born May 8, 1991) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for Victorian State League Division 1 side Caroline Springs George Cross FC. Club career Youth Born in Cochrane, Alberta, Gage won a gold medal with Alberta at the ...

, Navid Mashinchi, Kyle Porter, Antonio Rago, Adam Straith,

Russell Teibert Russell James Teibert (born December 22, 1992) is a Canadian professional soccer player currently playing as a midfielder for Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer and formerly for the Canada national team. Club career Youth and ama ...

, Simon Thomas and

Bob Lenarduzzi Robert Italo Lenarduzzi, OBC (born May 1, 1955) is a former North American Soccer League player, Canadian international, and coach of the Canadian national and Olympic soccer teams. He is currently club liaison for Vancouver Whitecaps FC. H ...

. His place and cause of death were not disclosed.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Semenets, Alex 1990 births 2020 deaths Men's association football forwards Canadian soccer players Ukrainian footballers Footballers from Kyiv Soccer players from Mississauga Ukrainian emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Whitecaps FC Academy players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players FC Edmonton players Toronto Lynx players USL League Two players USSF Division 2 Professional League players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Canada men's youth international soccer players