York9 FC announced on Sunday that former Forge FC striker Jace Kotsopoulos has been added to its roster for The Island Games.

Kotsopoulos, a 22-year-old native of Burlington, Ont., had been training with Y9 and followed the league’s health and safety self-isolation protocols with his new teammates before leaving for Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island this weekend.

A former member of the Guelph Gryphons, Kotsopoulos takes the roster spot of Nicholas Hamilton, whose arrival in Canada has been delayed and thus making him unavailable for York9 during the 2020 regular season in P.E.I.

Hamilton signed with the CPL club in February after playing in his native Jamaica for Cavalier Soccer Club, where he scored 10 goals last season to help his team finish fourth in the Red Stripe Premier League, before securing third place overall in the playoffs.

“We have been following all the mandated public health authority protocols that will govern the season to ensure the safety of Islanders and everyone entering the CPL bubble,” Y9 managing consultant Angus McNab said in a statement.

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“As a result of a delay in securing Nicholas Hamilton’s work permit, he has not been able to make it into Canada in time to quarantine and travel with everyone heading to P.E.I. To protect the integrity of our sequestered bubble and keep everyone safe, we cannot add him to our 23-man roster for The Island Games.”

Kotsopoulos was selected third overall in the 2018 CPL-U SPORTS Draft by Forge FC. He signed a U SPORTS development contract and made his debut for Forge as a substitute against Cavalry FC in the Canadian Championship last June.

He scored on his CPL debut against Valour FC later that same month, and went on to score another goal and make five appearances in all competitions before returning to school to finish his final semester in the fall. Kotsopoulos also scored a hat trick in one League1 Ontario appearance for Vaughan Azzurri in 2018.

“Given the short turnaround between games and the intensity of tournament football, we moved quickly to secure the services of Jace. He knows the league well having played a role with Forge FC in their Championship win last year, and I was surprised he was still available,” McNab said.

“It’s always good to get someone in who feels they have a point to prove to everyone. Jace has scored goals in the CPL before and we are confident he can do that for us this year when he is called upon to do so.”