Easton Ongaro (born June 5, 1998) is a Canadian professional

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 who plays as a

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 ...

for

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

in the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

Club career

Early career

In 2016, Ongaro began playing at the senior amateur level in the

Alberta Major Soccer League The Alberta Major Soccer League (AMSL) is the highest level of amateur soccer in Alberta. It is roughly level 4 on the Canadian soccer league system, Canadian soccer pyramid although levels below 3 are not formally designated by the Canadian Soccer ...

with the Edmonton Green & Gold, scoring two goals in eight appearances that season. The following season he doubled his tally, scoring four goals in thirteen appearances. In 2018, Ongaro led the league in scoring with thirteen goals in nine appearances. In October 2018, Ongaro was selected 15th overall in the 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft by

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

-based club

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches at ...

FC Edmonton

In May 2019, Ongaro signed with his hometown club,

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 ...

, after he was released by Cavalry FC. On 12 June 2019, Ongaro made his debut as a substitute against

York9 FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. History ...

in the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

. The following weekend he made his league debut as a substitute in the

Al Classico AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

against his draft club,

. He scored his first goal for Edmonton on July 27 against

Forge FC Forge FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadian soccer. The club plays its home matches at Tim Hortons Field. Forge FC joined the CPL in 2019 as ...

. Ongaro finished the season with a team-high ten goals in 21 league appearances, finishing fourth among the league's top scorers. On 12 November 2019, Ongaro re-signed with FC Edmonton on a multi-year contract. Edmonton had a disastrous shortened 2020 season, managing only a single point in seven games. Nevertheless, Ongaro again led the club in goals, scoring three while playing in every game. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, he had a slow start to the season, but by August began to get into excellent form, developing a partnership with new signing Tobias Warschewski, who assisted many of his goals. Ultimately, Ongaro again had an individually successful season, while his team's season was disappointing, as the Eddies finished in seventh place. However, Ongaro scored 12 goals in 27 appearances, good for second league-wide. Upon completion of the season, Ongaro would express a desire to play in Europe, and eventually signed in Romania. After three seasons with Edmonton he left as the Canadian Premier League's all-time top goalscorer, with 25 goals.

Loan to Vendsyssel FF

On 4 October 2020, Ongaro was loaned to

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

side

Vendsyssel FF Vendsyssel Forenede Fodboldklubber is a professional football club based in Hjørring, Denmark. The team competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of Danish football. The club plays home matches at Nord Energi Arena, which has a capaci ...

until the end of the calendar year. The deal also included an option to buy at the end of the loan period. He made his debut on 7 October in a

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

tie against

Aarhus Fremad Aarhus Fremad (, "Aarhus Forward") is an association football club located in Aarhus N, the northern part of Aarhus, Denmark. The team plays in the Danish 2nd Division, the third tier of the Danish football league system. Aarhus Fremad competed i ...

. On 31 December 2020, Vendsyssel declined the option to purchase Ongaro at the end of the loan, and he returned to Edmonton for the 2021 season.

UTA Arad

On 12 January 2022, Ongaro signed with Romanian

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

side

UTA Arad Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States * University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a Romanian football club based in the town of Arad * A ...

. He made his first appearance for the club on January 23 against

Gaz Metan Mediaș GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: ГАЗ or Го́рьковский автомоби́льный заво́д, , Gorky Automobile Plant) is a Russian automotive manufacturer located in Nizhny Novgorod, formerly known as Gorky (Го� ...

. Ongaro scored his first goal for UTA Arad on February 18, netting a late equalizer in a 1–1 draw against Universitatea Craiova. He departed the club in May 2022, after a spell that was marred by injury. After departing Arad, he went to train with his former club FC Edmonton, with no plans to join the club on a permanent contract, only to train for fitness.

Whitecaps FC 2

In July 2022, he signed with

Whitecaps FC 2 Whitecaps FC 2 is a professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. History Prior to the MLS Next Pro iteration the team played its h ...

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

. He made his debut on July 24, scoring two goals against

Colorado Rapids 2 Colorado Rapids 2 is a professional soccer club based in Denver, Colorado area that competes in the MLS Next Pro league, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Socce ...

. In August, he signed a short-term loan with the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

for their match against the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

on August 13.

Pacific FC

In November 2022, Ongaro returned to the Canadian Premier League, signing with

International career

Ongaro was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by CONCACAF to determine which men's ...

on 26 February 2020.

Personal life

He is the nephew of former Canadian professional soccer player

Ross Ongaro Ross Ongaro (born September 9, 1959) is a retired Canadian soccer player who earned one cap each with the Canada U-20 men's national soccer team and Canadian Olympic soccer team. He played professionally in the North American Soccer League, Majo ...

. He also holds an

Italian passport An Italian passport is issued upon request to an Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel. It is valid for 10, 5 or 3 years, depending on the applicant's age. Its biometric version has been available since 2006. It is ranked as ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ongaro, Easton 1998 births Living people Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Men's association football forwards Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Edmonton Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Alberta Golden Bears players Cavalry FC draft picks FC Edmonton players Vendsyssel FF players FC UTA Arad players Canadian Premier League players Danish 1st Division players Liga I players Whitecaps FC 2 players MLS Next Pro players