Goalkeeper Nolan Wirth from Comox, 25, will return to the Pacific FC crease for a third season in the pro Canadian Premier League of soccer. The NCAA Pac-12 graduate of the Oregon State Beavers was the PFC starter for the first three games in the 2020 CPL season played in a bubble in Prince Edward Island before being replaced by Callum Irving for the final seven games of the tournament.
“Nolan is a great representative of our club philosophy to have Island players and he comes to us with great attributes,” said PFC head coach Pa-Modou Kah, in a statement. “I’m looking forward to seeing his growth and maturity blossom next year.”
Also announced Thursday as a returning signee was Alessandro Hojabrpour. The defensively-inclined midfielder has appeared for PFC 32 times in his two-season tenure with the club. The 20-year-old is a native of Burnaby out of the Whitecaps Academy via Lokomotiv Plovdiv U-19 of the Bulgarian League.
“He is an example of a young Canadian player who is able to now play at home and develop in our environment,” said Kah.
Wirth and Hojabrpour join fellow signed PFC returnees Kadin Chung, Jordan Haynes, Abdou Samake, Lukas MacNaughton, Victor Blasco, Matthew Baldisimo, Alejandro Diaz, Josh Heard, Callum Irving, Terran Campbell, Marcel De Jong, Sean Young, Jamar Dixon, Thomas Meilleur-Giguére and new signing Manny Aparicio.
