Joseph Akpunonu (born December 21, 2001) is an American 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

center-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for the USL Championship side

Huntsville City FC Huntsville City FC is an American professional soccer team based in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the reserve team of Nashville SC and plays in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of American soccer. The team plays its games at Joe Davis Stadium, a forme ...

, on loan from MLS club

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The ...

Club career

Akpunonu went to high school at St. John's Jesuit High School, where he was a three-year letter winner. He played college soccer with the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

from 2020 to 2022, where he received 2022 Academic All-America First Team honors in his final year. In the summers, he played with

USL League Two 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 syste ...

side Toledo Villa. In December 2022, he was one of 44 players invited to the 2022 adidas MLS College Showcase. He was drafted 22nd overall in the first round of the

2023 MLS SuperDraft The 2023 MLS SuperDraft was the 24th edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. It was held on December 21, 2022, becoming the first SuperDraft to be held in December, but will retain the 2023 branding. The draft was conducted ...

on December 2, 2022, by

. First assigned to their reserves, he made his professional debut with FC Cincinnati in a 1–0

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

win over Louisville City FC on April 27, 2023. On February 6, 2024, Akpunonu joined USL Championship club Hartford Athletic on a season loan for the 2024 season.

Personal life

Akpunonu is of Nigerian descent. He studied biology at Bowling Green State University, and intends to become a doctor, like his father (Basil Akpunonu), mother (Elizabeth Hoffman), and brother ( Peter Akpunonu).). He had a 4.0 grade-point average, and was named to an 11-man

Academic All-America The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

First Team just prior to leaving Bowling Green State University.

Honors

FC Cincinnati *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual * Bowling Green State University Athlete of the Year:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

*
Toledo Villa profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akpunonu, Joey 2001 births Living people Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio Soccer players from Ohio American men's soccer players American soccer players of Nigerian descent Men's association football defenders FC Cincinnati players FC Cincinnati 2 players FC Cincinnati draft picks Bowling Green Falcons men's soccer players USL League Two players MLS Next Pro players Major League Soccer players