Pacific FC defender Lukas MacNaughton is moving up the soccer ladder.

A key member of PFCB次元官网网址檚 Canadian Premier League championship team this past season, MacNaughton has signed with MLS team Toronto FC, a move that marks his return to the city in which he played university soccer.

Born in New York and raised in Belgium, MacNaughton played for University of Toronto for five years and signed his first professional contract with Pacific FC in March 2019. He made a total of 59 appearances for the Langford-based team.

B次元官网网址淭hank you to the organization for taking a chance on me, the fans for always showing their support, and my teammates for making the last three years an absolute pleasure,B次元官网网址� MacNaughton said in a statement on the clubB次元官网网址檚 Facebook page. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檒l be playing in red now, but a part of my heart will always be purple.B次元官网网址�

Pacific FC CEO Rob Friend said despite losing a key player, the club is celebrating MacNaughtonB次元官网网址檚 accomplishment.

B次元官网网址淭his is something we envisioned as a club and something we want to continue to do: develop players and move them onto a higher level,B次元官网网址� he said in a previous post.

MacNaughton is just the second player to make the move from the CPL to Major League Soccer, after Cavalry FC defender Joel Waterman signed with the Montreal Impact in 2019.

ItB次元官网网址檚 been an off-season of changes for Pacific FC.

Following the departure of CPL coach of the year Pa Modou-Kah for North Texas SC in the MLS Next pro league, the club announced that Island soccer product James Merriman would be taking over as head coach for 2022.

Beside MacNaughtonB次元官网网址檚 move, Terran Campbell (CPL most valuable player candidate) and Alessandro Hojabrpour (CPL under-21 player of the year) joined Hamilton-based Forge FC.

"Thank you to the organization for taking a chance on me, the fans for always showing their support, and my teammates for making the last three years an absolute pleasure. IB次元官网网址檒l be playing in red now but a part of my heart will always be purple." - Lukas MacNaughton 馃挏

B次元官网网址� Pacific FC (@Pacificfccpl)

ALSO READ: Pacific FC captain Dixon returning amid key player exodus from Langford-based club

bailey.moreton@goldstreamgazette.com
Like us on and follow us on Twitter.