Luckymore "Lucky" Mkosana (born 30 September 1987) is a Zimbabwean

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 le ...

who currently plays for

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

Playing career

College and Amateur

Mkosana played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

between 2008 and 2011. During his time at Dartmouth, Mkosana was named Ivy League Player of the Year (2011), All-Ivy League First Team (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Soccer America Freshman, All-America First Team, College Soccer News Freshman, All-America First Team and Ivy League Rookie of the Year (2008). He became Dartmouth’s all-time career leader with 34 career goals, breaking a record that had stood since 1953. Mkosana played for

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 syste ...

club

Michigan Bucks Flint City Bucks is an American association football, soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mi ...

in 2011. Chicago Fire selected Mkosana in the second round (No. 23 overall) of the

2012 MLS SuperDraft The 2012 MLS SuperDraft was the thirteenth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 12, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). The draft was reduced from three rounds to two with the 19 MLS clubs selecting a total of 38 p ...

, but wasn't signed by the club.

Club

Harrisburg City Islanders

Mkosana signed with

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

club

Harrisburg City Islanders Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) was an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the United States soccer ...

in May 2012. Mkosana became a regular goalscorer for the City Islanders over the next two seasons, scoring 20 goals and providing 4 assists during the regular season play. The latter half of the 2013 season, Mkosana scored 10 goals in the 7 matches (including two hattricks) and earn USL Team of the Week honors for four consecutive weeks.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

At the conclusion of the USL 2013 season, Mkosana secured a loan deal to

in the NASL. After completion of a successful loan spell, Mkosana signed a permanent deal with the Rowdies in January 2014.

New York Cosmos

On 24 November 2014, Mkosana signed with NASL club

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independe ...

. His performance through most of the 2015 season earned him a contract extension in September 2015, scoring 5 goals in 19 appearances. The striker scored seven goals and added one assist across all competitions for the Cosmos in 2015. Notably, Mkosana scored a 90th-minute equalizing goal against

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...

in the

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 ...

, propelling the Cosmos to an eventual win in penalty kicks. During his time with the Cosmos, Mkosana helped the New York team win consecutive NASL championships in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

IFK Marienhamn

On 30 December 2016, Mkosana signed a one-year contract, with the option of a second, with Finnish

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

side

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...

. He would make 15 appearances for the Finnish champions, scoring 4 goals including 2 goals in the team's run to the quarterfinals of the

2016–17 Finnish Cup The 2016–17 Finnish Cup ''(Suomen Cup)'' was the 62nd season of the Finnish Cup. It was the first edition of the tournament to be played on a fall-spring schedule, running from July to September of the following year. The introduction of this ne ...

Return to New York Cosmos

After a season competing in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, Mkosana returned to New York Cosmos in June 2017 to compete in the 2017 Fall season.

Penn FC

Ahead of the 2018 season, Mkosana returned to

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

signing with the newly branded

Penn FC Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) was an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the United States socc ...

(formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) in the

. Despite a difficult season, Mkosana still managed to lead the team in goals, scoring 11 goals through 29 appearances.

Louisville City

After finishing a single season with Penn FC, Mkosana moved to

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

champions,

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, known through the 2018 season as the United Soccer League (USL), which is currently the second tier of th ...

ahead of the 2019 season. Traded mid-season, Mkosana scored 5 goals in 16 appearances.

Return to Tampa Bay Rowdies

Despite good performances for Louisville, Mkosana rejoined the Rowdies midway through the 2019 season as part of a trade that saw

Antoine Hoppenot Antoine Laurent Hoppenot (born 23 November 1990) is a French footballer who currently plays for Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship. Career College and amateur Hoppenot played college soccer at Princeton University between 2008 and 2011. ...

go to Louisville. In the 2021 Eastern Conference Final, Mkosana scored twice against Louisville to spur the Rowdies to victory. His first goal in the match came just three minutes after he entered off the bench, and the second goal was the equalizer deep into stoppage time. The two goals made Mkosana the USL Championship's all-time leading scorer as a substitute. Mkosana re-signed with the Rowdies on 20 January 2023.

International career

Mkosana received his first international call-up to the Zimbabwe national team for its African Cup of Nations qualifier on 9 September 2018.

Career statistics

Honors

New York Cosmos

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 ...

Supporters' Trophy:

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

References

External links

*
New York Cosmos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mkosana, Lucky 1987 births Living people Zimbabwean footballers Zimbabwean expatriate footballers Dartmouth Big Green men's soccer players Penn FC players Louisville City FC players Tampa Bay Rowdies players New York Cosmos (2010) players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Chicago Fire FC draft picks USL League Two players USL Championship players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Men's association football forwards