Julian Felix Engels (''né'' Büscher; born 22 April 1993) is a German former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Before moving to North America for college, Engels played for

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

Preußen Münster Preußen or Preussen is the German word for Prussia. It also refers to: Ships * Preußen (ship), ''Preußen'' (ship), windjammer built in 1902 * SMS Preußen (1873), SMS ''Preußen'' (1873), armored frigate * SMS Preußen (1903), SMS ''Preußen ...

and

Sportfreunde Lotte VfL Sportfreunde Lotte is a German association football club from Lotte, North Rhine-Westphalia. The football team is part of a sports club with approximately 1400 members and departments for handball, walking, gymnastics, and swimming, as well ...

. He played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East ...

and at club level with K–W United, before turning professional with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

side D.C. United. Engels also played with

LA Galaxy II Ventura County FC is an American professional soccer team based in the Greater Los Angeles area town of Thousand Oaks in Ventura County, California, United States that plays in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league sy ...

and

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 ...

before returning to Germany.

Career

Early career

Prior to playing in the United States, Engels competed for both

and

. In 2014, Engels joined the

Syracuse Orange men's soccer Syracuse Orange is the NCAA College soccer team for Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. They are a Division I team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Syracuse is currently coached by Ian McIntyre who has brought the team to the National ...

program. During his freshman year, Engels became an immediate starter for the Orange. There, he earned All-ACC Second Team honors and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. Engels tallied his first collegiate assist on 27 September 2014 in a 1–0 win against the second-ranked

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The assist to Skylar Thomas, gave the Orange a 1–0 win against Virginia. Throughout his freshman season, Engels earned a reputation of being a set piece specialist. His assists in subsequent matches against Albany, Bucknell,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and Georgetown led to three game winning matches. Engels returned to Syracuse for his sophomore season where he remain a key cog in the Orange lineup. Engels lead the team in assists and was second on the team in goals scored, en route to the program's first-ever college cup run. Engels played in and started in all 25 matches the Orange played in 2015.

D.C. United

Engels was selected 11th overall in the

2016 MLS SuperDraft The 2016 MLS SuperDraft was the seventeenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2016 convention was held in ...

by D.C. United. He made his United debut on 23 February 2016, in a

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

quarterfinal match against Queretaro F.C. On 1 March 2016, he scored his first professional goal in the return leg of the Champions League against Queretaro, in a 1–1 draw. Engels made his

debut on 6 March 2016 in a 4–1 loss at

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

, coming on for

Luciano Acosta Luciano Federico "Lucho" Acosta (born 31 May 1994) is an Argentine professional association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. Career Boca Juniors Acosta joined the youth ranks of ...

in the 75th minute. He scored his first MLS goal against Orlando City SC for D.C. United on 24 September 2016. On 14 August 2017, Engels was loaned to the

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

side,

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

for the remainder of the 2017 USL season. On 28 November 2017, his contract option with United was declined.

LA Galaxy II

On 15 March 2018, Engels signed with

of the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

. He made his debut on 17 March 2018 in a 2–0 loss to the

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the Western Conference in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The fra ...

. On 8 August 2018, his contract with LA Galaxy II was mutually terminated.

Cavalry FC

On 13 February 2019, Engels signed with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

club

for the team and league's inaugural season. He scored his first goal for Cavalry FC on 22 May 2019 versus Pacific FC in the Canadian Championship. Engels finished the season with six goals and four assists in all competitions, helping Cavalry finish first in both the spring and fall seasons and qualifying for the 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals. Engels was praised for his performance and listed as one of the best midfielders, and players, in the league.

Back to Germany

On 1 February 2020, Engels returned to Germany, signing with

Regionalliga A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues. The term is often associated with the Germa ...

side TuS Haltern. Engels left Haltern to join

Bonner SC Bonner SC is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Bonn. The club was formed in 1965 through the merger of ''Bonner FV'' and ''Tura Bonn''. Its women's football department won the List of German women's football champio ...

in August 2020 on a deal until June 2021. Less than two weeks after signing, he suffered a serious injury, when he tore his

posterior cruciate ligament The posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is a ligament in each knee of humans and various other animals. It works as a counterpart to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It connects the posterior intercondylar area of the tibia to the Medial condyl ...

and was set to be out for one year.

Personal life

Engels was born in Soest,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

and grew up in nearby

Dülmen Dülmen () is a town in the district of Coesfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Dülmen is situated in the south part of the Münsterland area, between the Lippe river to the south, the Baumberge hills to the north and the Ems ri ...

. In addition to playing for Cavalry FC, Engels coached youth soccer with Calgary Chinooks Soccer Club. In May 2021, he married Sarah Engels, taking on her maiden name.

Honours

Calvary FC *

Canadian Premier League Finals The Canadian Premier League final is the annual championship game of the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top level of Canadian soccer. It is played as a single match hosted by the winner of the first semifinal against the winner of the sec ...

: runners-up

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

(Regular season): Spring 2019, Fall 2019

References

External links

Syracuse Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engels, Julian 1993 births Living people People from Dülmen People from Soest, Germany German men's footballers Footballers from Arnsberg (region) Footballers from Münster (region) Men's association football midfielders 3. Liga players Regionalliga players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players USL League Two players Canadian Premier League players SC Preußen Münster players Sportfreunde Lotte players Syracuse Orange men's soccer players K–W United FC players D.C. United draft picks D.C. United players Rochester New York FC players Ventura County FC players Cavalry FC players TuS Haltern players Bonner SC players German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States German expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada German expatriate sportspeople in Canada 21st-century German sportsmen