Zachary Thomas Verhoven (born August 17, 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

club

Vancouver FC Vancouver Football Club, commonly known as Vancouver FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club in Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier Le ...

Early life

Verhoven played youth soccer with Surrey United SC from 2003 to 2009. In 2010, he joined Surrey Guildford United SC. He also played on the British Columbia provincial team. After being part of the Whitecaps Propects program from 2008 to 2010, he officially joined the

Vancouver Whitecaps Academy Whitecaps FC Academy is a Canadian soccer team, the academy of professional team Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as ...

in September 2011. After the Whitecaps released him at the U15 level, he returned to Surrey United where he played until he reached the U18 level.

University career

In 2016, Verhoven began attending the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team. He scored his first goal on September 4, 2016 against the UNBC Timberwolves, while also recording two assists in a 3-1 victory. On November 2, 2018, Verhoven scored two goals and added an assist in a 7-0 victory over the

UFV Cascades The UFV Cascades are the athletic teams that represent the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia and currently compete in the Canada West conference of U Sports. The Cascades field varsity teams in basketball, golf, soc ...

. With UBC, he won three consecutive Canada West Conference titles from 2016 to 2018.

Club career

In 2017 and 2018, he played with the TSS Rovers 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 November 2018, Verhoven was selected in the second round (ninth overall) of the 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft by

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

of the

. In April 2019, he signed a professional contract with the club. He scored his first professional goal on August 18, 2019, with a shot from just over the midfield line against

York 9 FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York L ...

. In his first season as a professional, he scored two goals and added three assists. After primarily playing a "super-sub" role during his two years with Pacific, he departed the club after the 2020 season, after he requested his release. In April 2021, Verhoven signed with

Atlético Ottawa Atlético Ottawa is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at TD Place Stadium, TD Place. The team was founded in 2020 by Spa ...

. During the 2021 season, he was often deployed in a more defensive right back position, transitioning from his usually midfield position, filling in due to injuries to other players. He was nominated for the Capital City Supporters Group Player of the Season in his inaugural season with the club. In January 2022, he re-signed with the club for two more season, with an option for 2024. In June 2022, he scored game-winning goals in back-to-back matches on June 1 against

Valour FC Valour Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home matches at IG Field. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned thro ...

and June 5 against his former club

. During his second season with the club, he suffered a couple of injuries which limited him to only 12 regular season appearances, but he did return in time for the playoffs, scoring his first playoff goal in the first leg of the semi-finals against

, as Ottawa advanced to the championship final. He departed the club after the 2023 season. On March 14, 2024, Vancouver FC announced the signing of the B.C.-born player to a one-year contract with an option for 2025.

International career

In September 2021, it was reported that

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

were interested in having Verhoven join the program ahead of their

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

campaign.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verhoven, Zachary 1998 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Canadian men's soccer players Soccer people from British Columbia Sportspeople from Burnaby Sportspeople from Surrey, British Columbia Canadian people of Fijian descent UBC Thunderbirds men's soccer players TSS FC Rovers players Pacific FC draft picks Pacific FC players Atlético Ottawa players USL League Two players Canadian Premier League players Whitecaps FC Academy players Vancouver FC players