Marcel Dominik Zajac (born April 29, 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 League1 Ontario club Vaughan Azzurri.

Early life

Zajac was born in

Toronto 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 ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

parents, and later moved to

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

at age three. He began playing soccer at age six with local club Erin Mills SC. Afterwards, he joined the

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma player ...

academy.

College career

In 2016, Zajac began attending the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team on a scholarship. He scored his first collegiate goal on October 7, 2017 against the

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Am ...

. In 2018, he helped Akron win the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

title and was named MAC tournament MVP, as well as finishing as runner-ups for the NCAA National Tournament. He was named a Second Team All-MAC All-Star in 2018. He then spent some time training with

Major League Soccer 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 Columbus Crew. After the season, he departed Akron to turn professional, rather than to return for his senior season.

Club career

While attending the

, Zajac continued to play with his youth club

in the summer in League1 Ontario, beginning in 2015. In 2016, he made 13 league appearances for Sigma, scoring five goals. The following year, Zajac made six appearances and added three goals. In 2018, he scored a career-high seven goals in eight appearances. He scored back-to-back hat-tricks on May 12, 2018 against

Windsor TFC Windsor TFC is a Canadian association football, soccer team based in Windsor, Ontario, that was founded in 2004. They have competed in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (1998-2005), Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) and Canadian So ...

and May 19, 2018 against

Ottawa South United Ottawa South United is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Manotick, Ontario, a community in the rural south part of Ottawa that plays in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. The club previously competed in League1 Ontario. ...

. On January 8, 2019, Zajac signed his first professional contract with Canadian Premier League side

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 ...

, joining former

coach Bobby Smyrniotis. He made his professional debut as a substitute in the inaugural CPL match against York9. In March 2021, it was reported that Zajac signed with Watra Białka Tatrzańska of the Polish fifth division. In June 2021, he trialled with Polish club

OKS Stomil Olsztyn Stomil Olsztyn is a Polish football club based in Olsztyn. It was founded on 15 July 1945 as OKS Warmiak. The brightest era of this club was the 1990s when it played in the Polish First League. Between 2004 and 2012 the team was known as OKS 194 ...

. In July 2021, Zajac signed with II liga side

Olimpia Elbląg Olimpia Elbląg is a Polish professional football team based in Elbląg, Poland, competing in II liga. It was founded in 1945. Facilities Olimpia Stadium Olimpia has played near Agrykola 8 Street since 1945. There are projects for a new s ...

. He left the club by mutual consent on November 30, 2021. In 2022, he played with Guelph United F.C. in League1 Ontario.

International career

In 2014, he was called up to a camp with the Canada U17 team, and later attended a camp with the Canada U20 team.

Personal life

Zajac's father,

Czesław Czesław, ( cz, Česlav, be, italic=yes, Časłaŭ; Česłaŭ, lt, Česlovas) is an old given name derived from the Slavic elements ''ča'' (to await) and ''slava'' (glory). Feminine form: Czesława/Česlava. The name may refer to: * Ceslaus, ...

, was also a professional soccer player, who played professionally in Poland and Canada.

Honours

Club

;Forge FC * Canadian Premier League:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zajac, Marcel 1998 births Living people Men's association football forwards Canadian soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Soccer players from Mississauga Canadian people of Polish descent Canadian expatriate soccer players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Poland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Akron Zips men's soccer players Sigma FC players Forge FC players Olimpia Elbląg players League1 Ontario players Canadian Premier League players II liga players Guelph United F.C. players