Nyal Christian-Anthony Higgins (born January 19, 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 for York United FC in the Canadian Premier League.

College

In 2016, he attended

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

, playing for the Golden Grizzlies soccer team. As a freshman, he was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team and the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Regional Third Team. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team. In 2019, he transferred to

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

to play for the Syracuse Orange soccer team.

Club career

During the 2016 and 2018 seasons, he played with Vaughan Azzurri in League1 Ontario. In 2017, he played with the Michigan Bucks in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

. In 2018, he trained with three

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 ...

clubs -

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

, Columbus Crew SC, and Nashville SC. He later trained with Toronto FC in 2019. He was selected 19th overall by Toronto FC in the

2020 MLS SuperDraft The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was the 21st edition of the MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first SuperDraft held exclusively via conference call and web streaming. The first two rounds of the 2020 ...

. He attended pre-season with the club, but ultimately did not make the final roster for 2020. In July, he signed a USL contract with the second-team Toronto FC II. He was soon after sent on loan to Nyköpings BIS in the Swedish third tier, following TFC II's withdrawal from the

2020 USL League One season The 2020 USL League One season was the second season of USL League One. The regular season was scheduled to begin on March 27 and end on October 3. On March 13, it was announced the regular season start would be delayed to April 11 due to the CO ...

due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He scored his first goal on November 21, in a 7-1 defeat to IF Brommapojkarna. He made his debut for Toronto FC II on May 22, 2021 against North Texas SC. In August 2021, Higgins joined Canadian Premier League side Atlético Ottawa on loan. He made his debut in a substitute appearance, on August 25, against Forge FC. In February 2022, he signed a contract with FC Edmonton in the Canadian Premier League. In 2023, he returned to Vaughan Azzurri. He was named a league Second Team All-Star at the end of the season. In April 2024, he signed a one-year contract with a club option for 2025 with York United FC in the Canadian Premier League. He scored his first CPL goal on September 6, 2024, in a 1-0 victory over Vancouver FC.

International career

He was a member of the U-18 and U-20 Canada national team talent pools.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Nyal 1998 births Men's association football defenders Atlético Ottawa players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Canadian Premier League players Canadian men's soccer players Ettan Fotboll players Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden FC Edmonton players League1 Ontario players Living people Flint City Bucks players Nyköpings BIS players Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's soccer players Soccer people from Ontario Syracuse Orange men's soccer players Toronto FC draft picks Toronto FC II players USL League One players USL League Two players Vaughan Azzurri players York United FC players