Oluwanisola "Sola" Abolaji (born March 27, 1985) is a former American

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.

Career

College and Amateur

Abolaji attended Eaglecrest High School in Aurora, Colorado and played college soccer at

Barton County Community College Barton Community College, previously Barton County Community College, is a public community college in Great Bend, Kansas. Its service area includes Barton, Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rush and Russell Counties, Stafford County north of US Highway 5 ...

in Kansas, where he was named to the NJCAA Region VI All-Region second team in 2003. He transferred to

Northern Oklahoma College Northern Oklahoma College (NOC) is a Public college, public community college in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, with additional campuses located in Enid, Oklahoma and Stillwater, Oklahoma. Student enrollment is approximately 2,700. NOC bought the former Phil ...

in 2004, where he was named the team's defensive MVP and helped lead the Mavericks to the NJCAA Region II championship. He then transferred again, to the University at Buffalo, where he spent his junior and senior years. He played 18 games for the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

his senior year, scoring two goals and one assist, the helper coming on the game-winning goal in the Bulls' upset win over 19th-ranked Northern Illinois. While in college, Abolaji also played for Colorado Rapids U23's in the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Abolaji was the first overall selection in the 2007 USL-1 Draft by the Carolina RailHawks, making him the first athlete from the University of Buffalo to be drafted first overall in any professional sports draft. Having played just 10 games for the RailHawks, Abolaji was traded to the Vancouver Whitecaps in exchange for

Joel John Bailey Joel John Bailey (born February 17, 1980) is a forward who last played for the Carolina RailHawks of the USL First Division. He played three seasons in Major Indoor Soccer League. Club career Indoor Bailey began his indoor soccer career in 20 ...

on July 29, 2007, but later left the team after a coaching change. After a few years playing in the lower tiers of the American soccer pyramid, he transitioned to Scandinavia where he played with several teams. In 2015, he returned to the United States and was a long-term trialist with the Chicago Fire and the Sacramento Republic, featuring in games against the San Jose Earthquakes. He joined the Ventura County Fusion, where he featured prominently in their 2nd Round U.S. Open Cup win over the L.A. Galaxy. In January 2016 he returned to Scandinavia.

Personal

His parents are of Nigerian origin. His name "Oluwanisola" means "God creates Wealth" in

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abolaji, Sola 1985 births Living people American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Canada Soccer players from Colorado North Carolina FC players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Colorado Rapids U-23 players Thunder Bay Chill players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders People from Carbondale, Illinois Soccer players from Illinois Buffalo Bulls men's soccer players USL First Division players USL League Two players Barton Community College alumni Junior college men's soccer players in the United States