VANCOUVER, WA—Vancouver Victory FC’s first crop of incoming players for the 2015 Evergreen Premier League season reveal the side will feature a solid Oregon State Beavers presence. Seven players are being announced today as Vancouver builds its squad. Four of them are currently Beavers.
“We are excited about the quality players that this first wave of commitments has throughout, and we believe it appropriately reveals the type of momentum the Victory organization has in many areas,” says V2FC Head Coach Aaron Lewis. I look forward to getting each of these guys into our group, and working together with them to prepare to reach our lofty goals.”
Goalkeeper Nolan Wirth (Comox, BC) comes from the OSU program. He’s the number one goalkeeper for the Canadian U20 National Team. Wirth is the home-grown property of the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps. He spent three years in their residency program.
Midfielder / Forward Mikhail Doholis (Vancouver, Wash.) is a Beaver who comes back to his home town. He’s the all-time leading scorer at Union High School and played in all 19 matches last season for Oregon State.
Midfielder / Forward Jaime Velasco (Beaverton, Ore.) scored five goals over thirteen matches for OSU in 2014 after transferring from the University of Portland. He moved from Anchorage Alaska during high school and then played for Westview High in Beaverton.
Midfielder / Forward Zach Striar (Portland, Ore.) attended Cleveland High in Portland before becoming a Beaver. He was named PIL (Portland Interscholastic League) Player of the Year as a senior.
Along with the batch of Beavers the Victory have commitments from three other important local players. They include two who were born abroad and one that Coach Lewis brings in from his Corban University program.
Winger Alex Nimo (Portland, Ore.) has already been announced as a Victory assistant coach. Originally from Liberia, Nimo will also take the pitch for Vancouver, providing speed and veteran creative attacking skills brought with him from his time with MLS side Real Salt Lake and local professional play with the Portland Timbers.
Forward Timur Zhividze (Bobrov, Russia) comes to V2FC via the Concordia University of Portland campus. Last season Timur scored thirteen goals and notched six assists in eighteen matches played for the Cavaliers. Timur played at Evergreen High in Vancouver.
Midfielder Josh Noonkester (Salem, Ore) comes to the Victory via his connections with Head Coach Aaron Lewis, also his gaffer at Corban University. Noonkester (South Salem HS) played in all 21 matches for Corban last season.
“Aaron (Lewis) has worked very hard to establish relationships with outstanding college programs. The quality of these players is a reflection of that hard work,” says V2FC owner Barrett Goddard. “The team is going to be well-represented by a high level of talent during the upcoming season, which is exciting for the Victory and our fans.”
The Victory will begin player open tryouts this Saturday March 7 (register now online.) The 2015 season schedule and tickets to all home matches are available at www.VancouverVictoryFC.com.
