Joseph Akpunonu (born December 21, 2001) is an American professional

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

center-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

Club career

Akpunonu went to high school at St. John's Jesuit High School, where he was a three-year letter winner. He played college soccer with the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

from 2020 to 2022, where he received 2022 Academic All-America First Team honors in his final year. In the summers, he played with

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

side Toledo Villa. In December 2022, he was one of 44 players invited to the 2022 adidas MLS College Showcase. He was drafted 22nd overall in the first round of the

2023 MLS SuperDraft The 2023 MLS SuperDraft was the 24th edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. It was held on December 21, 2022, becoming the first SuperDraft to be held in December, but retained the 2023 branding. The draft was conducted via ...

on December 2, 2022, by

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

. First assigned to their reserves, he made his professional debut with FC Cincinnati in a 1–0

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

win over

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, which is currently the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club was founded in 2014 after O ...

on April 27, 2023. On February 6, 2024, Akpunonu joined

club

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

on a season loan for the 2024 season. Akpunonu signed with

of the

on January 13, 2025.

Personal life

Akpunonu is of Nigerian descent. He studied biology at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

, and intends to become a doctor, like his father (Basil Akpunonu), mother (Elizabeth Hoffman), and brother ( Peter Akpunonu).). He had a 4.0 grade-point average, and was named to an 11-man

Academic All-America The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are give ...

First Team just prior to leaving Bowling Green State University.

Honors

FC Cincinnati *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

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 ...

Individual * Bowling Green State University Athlete of the Year:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

*
Toledo Villa profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akpunonu, Joey 2001 births Living people Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio Soccer players from Ohio American men's soccer players African-American soccer players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Men's association football defenders FC Cincinnati players FC Cincinnati 2 players FC Cincinnati draft picks Bowling Green Falcons men's soccer players USL League Two players MLS Next Pro players Major League Soccer players Hartford Athletic players USL Championship players Huntsville City FC players 21st-century American sportsmen Charleston Battery players