Marcel Dominik Zajac (born April 29, 1998) is a Canadian 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Early life

Zajac was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

parents, and later moved to

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

at age three. He began playing soccer at age six with local club Erin Mills SC. Afterwards, he joined the

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma playe ...

academy.

College career

In 2016, Zajac began attending the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team on a scholarship. He scored his first collegiate goal on October 7, 2017 against the

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Ame ...

. In 2018, he helped Akron win the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

title and was named MAC tournament MVP, as well as finishing as runner-ups for the NCAA National Tournament. He was named a Second Team All-MAC All-Star in 2018. He then spent some time training with

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 ...

. After the season, he departed Akron to turn professional, rather than to return for his senior season.

Club career

While attending the

, Zajac continued to play with his youth club

in the summer 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 ...

, beginning in 2015. In 2016, he made 13 league appearances for Sigma, scoring five goals. The following year, Zajac made six appearances and added three goals. In 2018, he scored a career-high seven goals in eight appearances. He scored back-to-back hat-tricks on May 12, 2018 against

Windsor TFC Windsor City FC (formerly Windsor Border Stars, Windsor Stars, and Windsor TFC) is a Canadian soccer team, based in Windsor, Ontario, that plays in League1 Ontario. The club was founded in 2004 and has previously competed in the Canadian Profe ...

and May 19, 2018 against

Ottawa South United Ottawa South United is a Canadian semi-professional association football, soccer team based in Manotick, Ontario, a community in the rural south part of Ottawa that plays in Ligue1 Québec. The club previously competed in League1 Ontario. The cl ...

. On January 8, 2019, Zajac signed his first professional contract with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

side

Forge FC Forge FC, also known as Forge Football Club, Forge FC Hamilton, or Hamilton Forge FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadia ...

, joining former

coach Bobby Smyrniotis. He made his professional debut as a substitute in the inaugural CPL match against York9. In March 2021, it was reported that Zajac signed with Watra Białka Tatrzańska of the Polish fifth division. In June 2021, he trialled with Polish club

OKS Stomil Olsztyn Stomil Olsztyn S.A., historically known and played under the names OKS 1945 Olsztyn and OKS Stomil Olsztyn, is a Polish football club based in Olsztyn. In the 2025–26 season, they will compete in the IV liga Warmia-Masuria after suffering the ...

. In July 2021, Zajac signed with

II liga II liga (Druga liga, ), currently named Betclic II liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, ''II Liga'' referre ...

side

Olimpia Elbląg Olimpia Elbląg is a Polish professional football team based in Elbląg, competing in group I of the III liga. It was founded in 1945. Facilities Olimpia Stadium Olimpia has played near 8 Agrykola Street since 1945. There are projects for ...

. He left the club by mutual consent on November 30, 2021. In 2022, he played with Guelph United F.C. in

International career

In 2014, he was called up to a camp with the Canada U17 team, and later attended a camp with the Canada U20 team.

Personal life

Zajac's father,

Czesław Czesław, (, , ) is an old given name derived from the Slavic elements ''ča'' (to await) and ''slava'' (glory). Feminine form: Czesława/Česlava. The name may refer to: * Ceslaus, Christian Saint * Czesław Białobrzeski, Polish physicist * ...

, was also a professional soccer player, who played professionally in Poland and Canada.

Honours

;Forge FC *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zajac, Marcel 1998 births Living people Men's association football forwards Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Soccer players from Mississauga Canadian people of Polish descent Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Akron Zips men's soccer players Sigma FC players Forge FC players Olimpia Elbląg players Guelph United F.C. players Vaughan Azzurri players League1 Ontario players Canadian Premier League players II liga players IV liga players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen