Nyal Christian-Anthony Higgins (born January 19, 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for Vaughan Azzurri in the Ontario Premier League.
College In 2016, he attended Oakland University, playing for the Golden Grizzlies soccer team. As a freshman, he was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team and the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Regional Third Team. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team.
In 2019, he transferred to Syracuse University to play for the Syracuse Orange soccer team.
Club career
During the 2016 and 2018 seasons, he played with Vaughan Azzurri in League1 Ontario. In 2017, he played with the Michigan Bucks in the Premier Development League.
In 2018, he trained with three Major League Soccer clubs - Sporting Kansas City, Columbus Crew SC, and Nashville SC. He later trained with Toronto FC in 2019.
He was selected 19th overall by Toronto FC in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft. He attended pre-season with the club, but ultimately did not make the final roster for 2020. In July, he signed a USL contract with the second-team Toronto FC II.
He was soon after sent on loan to Nyköpings BIS in the Swedish third tier, following TFC II's withdrawal from the 2020 USL League One season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He scored his first goal on November 21, in a 7-1 defeat to IF Brommapojkarna. He made his debut for Toronto FC II on May 22, 2021 against North Texas SC.
In August 2021, Higgins joined Canadian Premier League side Atlético Ottawa on loan. He made his debut in a substitute appearance, on August 25, against Forge FC.
In February 2022, he signed a contract with FC Edmonton in the Canadian Premier League. In 2023, he returned to Vaughan Azzurri. He was named a league Second Team All-Star at the end of the season.
In April 2024, he signed a one-year contract with a club option for 2025 with York United FC in the Canadian Premier League. He scored his first CPL goal on September 6, 2024, in a 1-0 victory over Vancouver FC. At the end of the 2024 season, the club picked up his option for 2025.
International career He was a member of the U-18 and U-20 Canada national team talent pools.
Career statistics
ClubSeasonLeaguePlayoffsDomestic CupLeague CupTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsVaughan Azzurri2016League1 Ontario5000—?050Michigan Bucks2017PDL801000—90Vaughan Azzurri2018League1 Ontario3000—0030Toronto FC II2021USL League One90———90Nyköpings BIS (loan)2020Ettan Norra171—20—191Atlético Ottawa (loan)2021Canadian Premier League80—00—80FC Edmonton2022Canadian Premier League240—10—250Vaughan Azzurri2023League1 Ontario1802010—210York United FC2024Canadian Premier League1612010—19020251600020—180Total321203000371Career total12425070001361
References
External links