Dino Lopez (born 13 January 1969 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired soccer player who played in the National Soccer League, Canadian Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League,

USISL A-League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

, National Professional Soccer League, and the Canadian Professional Soccer League.

Club career

The Jamaica-born defender was raised in

North York, Ontario North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

and has played in his career for York University who was named a 1989 OUA East All-Star. In 1987, he played in the National Soccer League with Toronto Italia, and ultimately played three seasons. In 1990, he played in the Canadian Soccer League for the London Lasers (1990, 1992),

Nova Scotia Clippers The Nova Scotia Clippers were a professional soccer team based in the original Canadian Soccer League. They were based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but played their matches in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia at Beazley Field. They played only a single season ...

(1991). He was an original member of the Montreal Impact. In 1994, he played for the

Toronto Rockets The Toronto Rocket (TR) train is the fifth and latest series of rolling stock used in the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the trains were built by Bombardier Transpo ...

, a team which lasted only one season in the APSL. In 1995, he signed with the

Milwaukee Rampage The Milwaukee Rampage are a former defunct professional American soccer team, that was located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which played in the A-League. History Founded in 1993 by Milwaukee area businessmen Dan Doucette and Jim Hock, the Rampage p ...

where he would play the next three outdoor seasons. He retired following the 1997 season, but came out of retirement to play two games with the 1998 Rampage after injuries decimated the back line. In addition to his outdoor career, Lopez also spent several seasons playing winter indoor soccer. In 1995, he signed with the

Buffalo Blizzard The Buffalo Blizzard was a soccer club that existed from 1992 to 2001 in Buffalo, New York. History The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the Buffalo Sabres at the time, and additionally by the Riches who owned the minor l ...

of the National Professional Soccer League. He also spent the 1996-1997 NSPL season with the

Toronto Shooting Stars Toronto Shooting Stars were an indoor soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario that competed in the defunct NPSL. The team began play in the 1996-1997 season, with home games taking place at Maple Leaf Gardens. However, the ownership of the franc ...

. In 1998, he signed with the newly expansion franchise the

Toronto Olympians Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in the newly formed Canadian Professional Soccer League. Throughout the 1998 CPSL season, Lopez achieved an undefeated streak with the Olympians the first club within the league to achieve this milestone. As well as winning the double by winning the regular season and the

Open Canada Cup The Open Canada Cup was an annual knock-out cup competition in Canadian Soccer. The competition was first held during the 1998 season as the CPSL League Cup. It was organized by the Canadian Soccer League (formerly the Canadian Professional So ...

. The club reached the playoff finals but were defeated by the St. Catharines Wolves by 4–2 victory in a penalty shootout.

International career

He won one cap for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, playing his only game on 3 September 1992 in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...

against the

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Coaching career

From 2002 to 2006 Lopez was the U12 Development Director for the Oakville Soccer Club, and from 2006 to 2012 he coached the U-16 team. On July 24, 2012, the Oakville Soccer Club announced that he would take on the role of Technical Director at the club.

Honors

Toronto Olympians

(1): 1998 * Canadian Professional Soccer League Regular Season Champions (1): 1998

External links

* *
stats in CSL

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Dino 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Sportspeople from North York Soccer players from Toronto Jamaican emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Association football defenders Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players London Lasers players Nova Scotia Clippers players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Toronto (Mississauga) Olympians players Toronto Rockets players Milwaukee Rampage players Buffalo Blizzard players Toronto Shooting Stars players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players American Professional Soccer League players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Toronto Italia players Canadian National Soccer League players Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Kitchener Spirit players