Jacen Rex Orlando Russell-Rowe (born September 13, 2002) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a forward for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

and the Canada national team.

Early life

He began playing soccer at age three with Brampton YSC. He later joined the

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the Youth system, youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, which competes in MLS Next. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 ...

College career

In 2020, he committed to the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

where he would play for the Terrapins. In his debut for Maryland on February 19, 2021, he scored a goal from 30 yards out against the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

for his first NCAA goal. On March 7, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

to give Maryland its first victory of the season. For his freshman season, he was named to the 2020/21 Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Club career

In 2018, he made one appearance for Toronto FC III in

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

. On July 3, 2019, he made his professional debut with

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

(while on an academy contract), coming on as a substitute against

FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women's team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...

. In March 2022 Russell-Rowe signed with

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

side

Columbus Crew 2 Columbus Crew 2 is a professional soccer team based in Columbus, Ohio that competes in the MLS Next Pro league, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Colum ...

. He scored his first professional goal on April 10 against

Philadelphia Union II Philadelphia Union II is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of ...

. On May 28, he signed a short term loan with the first team,

, ahead of their MLS game against

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

. On June 18, he signed another short-term loan with the Crew for their match against

Charlotte FC Charlotte Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the e ...

, in which he appeared as a substitute for his MLS debut. Russell-Rowe was named MLS Next Pro Player of the Month for both May and June 2022. Russell-Rowe won the 2022 MLS Next Pro MVP, the 2022 MLS Next Pro Golden Boot Award after leading the league with 21 goals and was also named to the MLS Next Pro Best XI. On June 29, 2022, Columbus traded $50,000 in General Allocation Money to acquire his homegrown rights from

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

, and signed him to their first team's roster. He made his first MLS start the same day against Toronto FC, recording two assists in a 2–1 victory. Russell-Rowe scored his first MLS goal on March 25, 2023, in a 6–1 victory versus Atlanta United

International career

Born in Canada, Russell-Rowe is of Jamaican descent. In 2016, he made his debut in the Canadian youth program when was called to a training camp for the Canada U15 team. Russell-Rowe represented Canada's Under-17 side at the

2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (19th edition if all eras included), the men's under-17 international association football, football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in ...

. He was subsequently named to the team for the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

, where he scored both of Canada's goals at the tournament. In 2019, he was a nominee for Canadian Youth International Player of the Year. In May 2023, Russell-Rowe was listed on the

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

preliminary roster for the

2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals The 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League, 2022–23 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the second season of the international Association football, football competition involvi ...

. In June 2023, he was named to the final squad for the

2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 17th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. Canada and the United ...

. Russell-Rowe made his debut in the tournament opener against

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

on June 27, where he scored an own-goal in an eventual 2-2 draw. In June 2024, Russell-Rowe was named to Canada's squad for the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's association football, soccer championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in the United Sta ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Columbus Crew *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

runner-up:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell-Rowe, Jacen 2002 births Living people Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Men's association football forwards Soccer players from Toronto Toronto FC II players USL League One players Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players Black Canadian men's soccer players MLS Next Pro players Columbus Crew 2 players Columbus Crew players Major League Soccer players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2024 Copa América players Canada men's international soccer players Toronto FC Academy players Homegrown Players (MLS) 21st-century Canadian sportsmen