Valour use first choice to draft East Coast goal scorer

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This article was published 14/12/2023 (1006 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Valour FC is hoping the 2023 CPL-U Sports Draft can help solve their goalscoring woes.

Winnipeg’s professional soccer club used the first overall pick in Thursday afternoon’s draft on Cape Breton University forward Owen Sheppard.

Valour was dealt choice No. 1 due to their last place finish in 2023. They scored just 25 times in 28 matches and finished with a paltry 6-8-14 record.

Sheppard, 21, scored nine times in 11 matches and helped Cape Breton win the Canadian title. The first-team all-Canadian — who’s the first player from Newfoundland to be drafted by a CPL club — was also named tournament MVP at nationals.

“It’s a little bit of a surreal feeling. It feels amazing to get picked up by a club and have them believe in you,” said Sheppard in a phone call.

“I want to get to work right away and show my worth that they weren’t wrong picking me first.”

Valour assistant coach Daryl Fordyce made the trip to Nova Scotia for last month’s national championships and came away very impressed by Sheppard. The team did its homework and quickly came to realization that Sheppard was their guy.

“No matter what level you’re at, the most difficult thing in football is to capitalize on chances. When you find yourself in those positions, can you score? And he’s done it,” said Valour head coach/general manager Phillip Dos Santos.

“There’s a lot of things that are good about a player like Owen. Luckily, we had the first pick… For us, it was a no-brainer when we saw him. It’s a player we knew many teams were looking at. From the moment we started putting his name on our board and saw the way we’re shaping the team and the way we want to attack, for us, he has a lot of the characteristics that we’re looking at.”

The two-round draft is designed to develop the Canadian soccer scene as it’s open to U Sports underclassmen with one to four years eligibility remaining who are planning to return to school the following year.

Sheppard can play another two years in Cape Breton, but is determined to contribute to Valour immediately.

“I think I could definitely help the club in many ways. Wherever the coach wants to play me, I’m going to give 100 per cent and die for the badge,” said Sheppard.

“So, I think with my scoring ability, I can help the club out as much as possible and hopefully, we can probably push for a playoff spot in the future.”

Valour also held the first choice of the second round and selected University of Windsor centre back Gianfranco Facchineri ninth overall.

Facchineri, a 21-year-old from Windsor, Ont., is no stranger to the league as he had four CPL appearances with Atletico Ottawa in the shortened 2020 season. He’s also a product of the Vancouver Whitecaps system, and captained Canada at the under-17 World Cup in Brazil in 2019.

Before arriving in Winnipeg, Dos Santos was an assistant with the Whitecaps.

“I think he was a young player that had a lot of expectations put on him. And then, things didn’t go his way. Maybe he was punching above his weight a bit too early. But he did what he had to do. He accepted going back to school, he accepted to play in League1 Ontario,” said Dos Santos.

“And when I spoke with him, he seemed like a person who was humbled by the whole experience from having much so early to now having to prove himself again.”

No Manitobans were chosen Thursday.

Valour extends Campbell

It was a busy day for Valour as they also announced a contract extension with midfielder Dante Campbell through 2024 with an option for 2025.

In 26 appearances last season, the 24-year-old recorded one goal and two assists in 2,210 minutes played.

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“A lot of teams would’ve been interested in him. I think what we’re building for the club, and building long term, I think he’s the type of player that has the durability, quality, but also the mentality of what the future leadership of this team could look like,” said Dos Santos.

“Dante was important for us last season. His versatility, the way he competes every game, he was one of the bright spots in what was a difficult season for us.”

More Valour signings are expected to be announced before Christmas.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

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Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.