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TWU Soccer Star Drafted By Canadian Premier League

Langley After an impressive first season with the Spartans men’s soccer team which saw him earn a Canada West Second Team All-Star and U SPORTS All-Rookie Team selection, Jake Ruby (North Vancouver, B.C.) was selected by HFX Wanderers FC (Halifax, Nova Scotia) in the second round of the CPL-U SPORTS draft.

Following the 2019 U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championship in Montreal, the Canadian Premier League held a two-round draft, with 14 players selected from across the U SPORTS landscape.

Ruby joins Spartan alum Joel Waterman (2018) as Spartans who have been selected in the draft. Waterman, who just completed his first season in the CPL with Cavalry FC (Calgary), was also selected 14th overall in the inaugural CPL-U SPORTS draft.


“We couldn’t be happier for Jake,” said Spartans head coach Mike Shearon. “He is such a competitor. In every training session, he competed – blocking shots, winning 1v1 battles and scoring goals.

“He has great skills in both passing and dribbling, and can do a variety of things on the field and really excited he’s been given this opportunity.”

Ruby’s selection comes after a dominant first season with TWU. The first-year defender made an immediate impact with the Spartans, starting all 16 regular season games and one playoff game. An outside back, Ruby scored three goals and added two assists on the season, placing him fifth in team scoring.

While Ruby’s skill on the field this season was truly evident, his impact didn’t end there.

“The thing that impressed me most was his humility to get better every day.” Shearon said. “He came to us to get healthy and to get better so that a team would draft him, and that’s exactly what’s happened. He deserves it.”

The season saw him named to the Canada West All-Rookie Team, Canada West second-team, and U SPORTS All-Rookie Team. Ruby and the Spartans concluded the regular season with a 9-6-1 record, before falling 1-0 to Calgary in the Canada West quarter-finals last month (Oct. 26).

Ruby will have a chance to join both Waterman and fellow TWU alum Elijah Adekugbe in the CPL, as the duo played together with Cavalry FC this past season.

HFX Wanderers FC are coming off a season in which they finished seventh in the league with a 3-8-7 record. The team also selected first in the CPL-U SPORTS draft, taking Cory Bent from Cape Breton.

2019 CPL-U SPORTS DRAFT

This truly unique partnership between the CPL and U SPORTS provides student-athletes with an opportunity to be signed to a CPL-U SPORTS Developmental Contract. This will allow student-athletes with one to four years of eligibility remaining to play with a CPL club in the spring and summer before returning to U SPORTS competition.

The draft order was determined in the reverse order of the combined CPL Spring and Fall season standings, with the caveat that the league champion Forge FC selected last.

2019 CPL-U SPORTS DRAFT

Pick     Player                                 Team                           School                   Pos.                

1st         Cory Bent                            HFX Wanderers FC      Cape Breton            LW

2nd       Marcus Campanile               Valour FC                    Cape Breton            CAM

3rd        Jan Pirretas Glasmacher      Pacific FC                    Thompson Rivers    CB

4th        David Chung                       FC Edmonton               Alberta                    CM

5th        Stefan Karajovanovic           York9 FC                     Carleton                  ST

6th        Gabriel Bitar                        Cavalry FC                   Carleton                  ST

7th        Gabriel Balbinotti                 Forge FC                     UQTR                     FW

8th        Alex Zis                               Forge FC                     Guelph                    CAM

9th        Moe El Gandour                  Cavalry FC                   Mount Royal           CM

10th      Isaiah Johnston                   York9 FC                     Cape Breton            RM

11th      Jacob Bosch                       FC Edmonton               Alberta                    CM

12th      Thomas Gardner                 Pacific FC                    UBC                       FW

13th      Charlie Waters                    Valour FC                    Cape Breton            ST

14th      Jake Ruby                          HFX Wanderers FC     Trinity Western      RB      

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