Emeka Eneli

Last updated

Emeka Eneli
Personal information
Full name Chukwuemeka Somto Eneli
Date of birth (1999-10-18) October 18, 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth Lansing, Michigan, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Full-back
Team information
Current team
 Real Salt Lake
Number 14
Youth career
2012–2017 Columbus Crew
2017–2018 Ohio Premier
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2018–2022 Cornell Big Red 60 (20)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2019 Lionsbridge 10 (1)
2022 Flint City Bucks 12 (4)
2023– Real Salt Lake 54 (1)
2023– Real Monarchs 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 10, 2024

Chukwuemeka Somto "Emeka" Eneli (born October 18, 1999) is an American professional soccer player who plays for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake.

Contents

Career

Youth and college

Eneli was born in Lansing, Michigan, but moved to Dublin, Ohio was he was eight years old. [1] He attended Dublin Coffman High School, where he played one year of varsity soccer. He also played soccer with the Columbus Crew academy between 2012 and 2017, before spending a season with Ohio Premier, who he helped to the ENPL national title in 2018 and was named to the ECNL All-American and ECNL All-Midwest teams. [2] [3] [4]

In 2018, Eneli attended Cornell University graduating in 2022 with a major in Biological Engineering and a minor in Business. He played college soccer, serving as team captain in his junior and senior year. In four seasons with Big Red, including a canceled 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Eneli made 60 appearances, scoring 20 goals and tallying 17 assists. In 2021, Eneli earned All-Ivy League First Team and Second Team United Soccer Coaches Men's Northeast Region honors. 2022 saw Eneli named a Second Team All-American and helped Cornell qualify for the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in nearly three decades. [2] Eneli earned 2018 Rookie of the Year for the Ivy League Mens Soccer conference. https://cornellbigred.com/news/2018/11/14/eneli-tabbed-ivy-mens-soccer-rookie-of-the-year-four-named-all-league.aspx. Eneli finished the season second in the Ivy League in points (16) and goals (7).

While at college, Eneli also competed in the USL League Two. He spent 2019 with Lionsbridge FC, scoring one goal in ten games. [5] In 2022, he spent the season with Flint City Bucks, making 16 appearances across the regular season and playoffs, netting four goals and adding a single assist. [6]

Following the 2022 season, Eneli was announced as an eligible player in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. [7]

2023, starting in a 4–0 loss at home to St. Louis City SC. [8] [9]

Personal

Eneli holds both American and Nigerian citizenship. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Kreis</span> American soccer player and coach

Jason Clarence Kreis is an American soccer coach and former player who is the director of operations and special projects for Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake and the former head coach of the United States under-23 team. From 2021 to 2023, he also served as an assistant coach for MLS club Inter Miami. He coached Orlando City SC in Major League Soccer and was previously an assistant coach under Jürgen Klinsmann for the United States men's national soccer team. Prior to that he was the head coach of New York City FC and Real Salt Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Real Salt Lake</span> American soccer club in Utah, US

Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. Founded in 2004, the club began play in 2005 as an expansion team of the league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Javier Morales</span> Argentine footballer and coach

Javier Morales is an Argentine former footballer and an assistant Inter Miami CF coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damir Kreilach</span> Croatian footballer (born 1989)

Damir Kreilach is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Schmidt (soccer)</span> American soccer player

Justin Schmidt is a former American soccer player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionsbridge FC</span> Soccer club

Lionsbridge Football Club, or Lionsbridge FC, is an American soccer club based in Newport News, Virginia. The club was founded in 2017, and play in USL League Two. The club's colors are blue, black and white, and the club is named for the Lions Bridge, the iconic Peninsula landmark that has stood along the James River and in the Mariners' Museum Park since 1923. The team plays its home games at TowneBank Stadium on the campus of Christopher Newport University.

Corey Jacob Baird is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati.

Tate Matthew Schmitt is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo.

Michael Wetungu is an American soccer player who plays as a defender.

The 2021 Real Salt Lake season was the team's 17th year of existence, and their 17th consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top division of the American soccer pyramid. RSL entered the 2021 season looking to rebound from a tumultuous 2020 season, having finished near the bottom of the table and endured the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic continued to have a significant impact on MLS in 2021, causing the season's start to be delayed to mid-April instead of the traditional first weekend in March, a reworked schedule that focused heavily on intra-conference play to reduce travel, and stadiums at reduced capacity. The state of Utah allowed RSL to open the season with Rio Tinto Stadium at 50% capacity. The 2021 Major League Soccer season began on April 16, 2021, though RSL did not begin their season until the following week, April 24, having had a bye in the opening weekend due to the odd number of teams in MLS in 2021.

Isaiah Parente is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for MLS side LA Galaxy.

Bret Halsey is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati.

The 2022 Real Salt Lake season was the team's 18th year of existence, and their 18th consecutive season in Major League Soccer, the top division of the American soccer pyramid. On December 13, 2021, RSL hired Pablo Mastroeni to be the sixth manager in club history, removing the interim tag he had held since taking over for Freddy Juarez on August 27, 2021.

Jasper Löffelsend is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Quinton</span> American soccer player

Philip Kane Quinton is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer.

Jacob Erlandson is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Loudoun United in the USL Championship.

Pedro Fonseca is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a forward for South Georgia Tormenta in the USL League One.

The 2023 Real Salt Lake season was the team's 19th season in Major League Soccer, the top division of the American soccer pyramid. The team also competed in both the 2023 U.S. Open Cup and 2023 Leagues Cup. Real Salt Lake played their home games at America First Field in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, and was managed by Pablo Mastroeni in his second full season with the club.

Pierre Reedy is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder or full-back for USL League One club Spokane Velocity.

Noel Caliskan is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake.

References

  1. ↑ Harris, Jonathan (September 17, 2018). "10 Questions With Men's Soccer's Emeka Eneli". The Cornell Daily Sun.
  2. 1 2 "Emeka Eneli - 2022-23 - Men's Soccer". Cornell University Athletics.
  3. ↑ "TBT: The Inaugural ENPL National Champions – Ohio Premier Boys ECNL U18/U19". December 6, 2018.
  4. ↑ DIRENNA, FRANK. "Soccer: Ohio Premier 19U boys capture national title". The Columbus Dispatch.
  5. ↑ "Lionsbridge FC | uslleaguetwo.com". www.uslleaguetwo.com.
  6. ↑ "Flint City Bucks | uslleaguetwo.com". www.uslleaguetwo.com.
  7. ↑ "MLS SuperDraft 2023 eligible players | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer.
  8. ↑ "Trio Of RSL Debutants Reflect On Experience | Real Salt Lake". rsl.
  9. ↑ "RSLvsSTL 03-25-2023 | Real Salt Lake". rsl.
  10. ↑ "Real Salt Lake Adds First-Round Pick Emeka Eneli To First-Team Roster | Real Salt Lake". rsl.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.