Niklas Hallam was leading the Reynolds Roadrunners to the 2023 sa国际传媒 high school soccer championship last fall in the all-Island final against the Royal Bay Ravens to add to his back-to-back provincial titles, including as a Grade 11 in 2022.
The dynamic striker went on to score 10 goals in 13 games this past season with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and was named Ontario universities rookie of the year. His climb continued as home-Island Pacific FC made Hallam a potential pro on Thursday by selecting the 19-year-old fourth overall in the first round of the Canadian Premier League-U Sports draft.
“I was watching online with my friends. It was pretty exciting to see my name pop up when it did,” Hallam said from Toronto. “This is a pretty big opportunity for me in my hometown and I hope to take it. I’m ready for it,” said the Prospect Lake product.
His goal total from his rookie season in U Sports speaks volumes: “That’s pretty much the point of the position [striker], to make something happen positively on offence.”
He seems to do that with great flair.
“Niklas is a player we know very well and developed in our [Island Wave] youth system,” PFC head coach James Merriman said in a statement.
“He joined part of our preseason last year and was showing his potential. Niklas had a very strong first season at Toronto and we are excited to see his progression in our environment.”
The Tridents again stayed close to home in selecting U Sports defensive player of the year Fin Tugwell from the University of Victoria Vikes 12th overall with their second selection in the two-round draft. Centre-back is the quarterback of soccer and the six-foot-three native of North Vancouver is among the best at the position in U Sports and was named sa国际传媒 West all-star this season and is heading into his fifth and final year with the Vikes in 2025.
“Centre-back conducts the team, so I try to be the smartest player out there,” said the UVic civil-engineering major, who patrols the Vikes back line with brother Archie Tugwell.
It could lead to bigger things: “I was livestreaming the draft in the UVic library and I was at a loss for words and so excited and grateful when my name popped up. This is an amazing opportunity but it is going to take a lot of hard work and commitment to make it at the pro level.”
PFC bench boss Merriman has liked what he has seen of Tugwell with the Vikes at Centennial Stadium: “Fin is a ball- playing central defender with good size and composure. He is a captain at UVic and growing in his leadership and was recognized this year for his consistency in performance.”
Forward Jevontae Layne from Toronto Metropolitan University went first overall in the draft to 2024 CPL last-place Valour FC of Winnipeg.
The CPL, much like the professional Canadian Elite Basketball League, has an arrangement in which U Sports players can be drafted and play pro through the summer without losing their university eligibility for the next fall. Pacific FC has previously signed out of the CPL-U Sports draft midfielder Zach Verhoven in 2018, defender Chris Lee in 2020, midfielder Luca Ricci in 2022 and defender Eric Lajeunesse out of the UBC Thunderbirds in 2023, with the latter especially emerging into a promising young pro.
