Pacific FC announced on Friday that centre-back Abdoulaye Samake will be returning to the club for the 2022 Canadian Premier League season.

Samake, a 25-year-old born in Mali but raised in Ottawa, played 28 games in total for the Tridents in 2021, contributing the fourth-most minutes on the team as one of the club’s first-choice defenders. He missed the CPL Final due to injury, but nonetheless Samake was an important part of Pacific’s CPL championship-winning campaign last year.

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His contributions in 2021 earned Samake a spot at 47th in the CPL50 countdown in December.

The defender first signed with Pacific in 2020 ahead of the Island Games, having previously suited up for USL PDL side Chicago FC United, as well as for the University of Michigan from 2016 to 2019.

With this return, Pacific now have 12 players confirmed for their 2022 roster, including 11 returning players plus former FC Edmonton defender Amer Didic.