Welcome to CPL50, a series where we’ll reveal the top 50 players from the 2021 Canadian Premier League regular season, as voted on by a panel of coaches from all eight teams and media from OneSoccer and CanPL.ca.

For more information on the voting process and method, click here. 

The four York United player to make the CPL50 is centreback Dominick Zator, joining Michael Petrasso (35) and fellow core members of their defensive unit in fullback Chrisnovic N’sa (44) and ‘keeper Nathan Ingham (40)

It’s apt that Zator, the former Cavalry FC centreback, leads this group of York defenders – just as he did on and off the pitch in 2021.

Zator, 27, made the high-profile shift from his hometown Cavalry side to York in early 2021 and emerged as a clear highlight – joining a team that proved quick difficult to break down under his guidance. The former Canadian men’s national team call-up ranked second in the CPL in clearances (94) and third in ariels won (64) as he marshalled York to an impressive defensive record especially at home (12 goals conceded in 10 home matches). It was that acumen that kept York, the youngest team in the CPL, in matches late that brought them to the 2021 CPL Playoffs.

Zator’s gamble to move east, away from his hometown in Calgary, paid off in a massive way – he was a star defender on a growing team and, despite playing parts of the season without natural centre-backs due to injury, adapted well to maintain his reputation as one of Canada’s best domestic defenders.

The rest of the CPL50 countdown is available here. Five more players will be revealed per day until December 22.