FC Edmonton announced on Friday that the club has signed Canadian defender Nyal Higgins for the upcoming 2022 Canadian Premier League season.

The 24-year-old played most recently for Atlético Ottawa in the CPL on loan from Toronto FC II, signing for the club midway through 2021 and playing eight times after joining in late August. He started five times for Ottawa, including three consecutive outings in September at centre-back. Higgins is a tall right-footed centre-back who has shown a strong ability to win balls in the air at various levels of the game.

The Ajax, Ontario native, formerly selected 19th overall in the MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC, has professional experience at TFC II and at Swedish club Nyköpings BIS, having previously played in League1 Ontario for Vaughan Azzurri as well as at the NCAA Div. I level for both Oakland and Syracuse Universities. 

“Nyal has shown that he can excel as a top defender in the NCAA and USL1 League,” said FC Edmonton head coach Alan Koch. “He has CPL experience already, and we look forward to giving him the opportunity to show his personal growth and compete to be a top defender in the league. Nyal has fantastic athleticism and is a top competitor, and we look forward to bringing him in and getting him comfortable with our system of play.”

The Eddies now have eight players officially signed for the coming season, including returning players Tobias Warschewski and Darlington Murasiranwa. Their 2022 campaign will kick off on Sunday, April 10, when they play host to Valour FC at Clarke Stadium (4 pm ET/2 pm MT, on OneSoccer).