February 28, 2023 – MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro) – Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 News Release
VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced on Tuesday that Whitecaps FC 2 (WFC2) has signed Canadian forwards Gloire Amanda and Levonte Johnson, Canadian midfielder Malcolm Johnston, and re-signed American midfielder Giovanni Aguilar to MLS NEXT Pro contracts.
“It’s important that at every position we have players on our second team who are ready to push for places with the first team,” said Axel Schuster, Whitecaps FC sporting director. “As we showed last year with the most players called up from MLS NEXT Pro and three players signed to MLS contracts, there is a clear pathway to our first team through our Whitecaps FC 2 squad in MLS NEXT Pro.”
Whitecaps FC 2 forward Gloire Amanda
Graduate of the Whitecaps FC BMO Academy System
Played 2017 season with WFC2 in the USL Championship, scoring three goals and adding two assists
2020 MAC Hermann Trophy winner as the top player in the NCAA at Oregon State University
Two seasons playing in the Austrian Bundesliga with SK Austria Klagenfurt from 2021-2023
Amanda returns to Vancouver Whitecaps FC pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC). The 24-year-old most recently spent the last two seasons playing with SK Austria Klagenfurt in the Austrian Bundesliga. In that time he made 10 league appearances, scoring one goal against Rapid Wien.
Prior to moving to Austria, Amanda played three seasons at Oregon State University, accumulating 25 goals and 10 assists in 47 appearances. In his junior season, he led the NCAA in goals (15) and points (37), earning the 2020 MAC Hermann Trophy awarded to the top player in the NCAA.
The native of Edmonton, Alberta originally joined the Whitecaps FC BMO Academy as a 15-year-old in 2014, scoring 48 goals over three seasons in the Development Academy. He would go on to sign with WFC2 in 2017, making 27 appearances in the USL Championship as a 18-year-old while scoring three goals and adding two assists.
Whitecaps FC 2 forward Levonte Johnson
Participated in 2023 preseason camp with Whitecaps FC first team
Recorded 11 goals, six assists in 25 starts in lone season with Syracuse University
2022 MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist, United Soccer Coaches First Team All-America, All-ACC First Team, All-South Region First Team
Helped Syracuse win the NCAA Division I National Championship
Johnson, 23, was selected 29th overall by Whitecaps FC in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft from Syracuse University…
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