Michael Nanchoff (born September 23, 1988) is an American retired

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 is currently an assistant coach for the

Akron Zips men's soccer The Akron Zips men's soccer team is an intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports team of the University of Akron. As of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, the Zips play in the Big East Conference. This move followed Akron's full-ti ...

team.

Career

College and amateur

Before college, Nanchoff played for

Walsh Jesuit High School Walsh Jesuit High School is a private, Catholic, co-educational college preparatory high school in the Jesuit tradition, located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, approximately south of Cleveland. Walsh's campus covers and is situated near the Cuyahog ...

in Ohio where he won an OHSAA State Championship in 2006. He then spent four years at 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 ...

playing in three after redshirting the 2008 season. He skipped his final year of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

eligibility to sign a lucrative

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

contract after being named one of the top collegiate players by several sources. Nanchoff also played for the

Cleveland Internationals Cleveland Internationals was an American soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2004, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes Divisio ...

in the

USL Premier Development League 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 ...

Professional

Nanchoff was drafted in the first round (8th overall) in the

2011 MLS SuperDraft The 2011 MLS SuperDraft was the twelfth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 13, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 2011 NSCAA Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center. The 2011 SuperDraft consi ...

, thereby helping

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

set a record for the most players drafted in the first round and the most players drafted overall from one school in an MLS SuperDraft. After missing the first several months of the season with an injury, he made his professional debut on June 4, 2011, as a late substitute in a 2–0 loss to

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

. Nanchoff was not retained by the Whitecaps following the 2012 season. On February 13, 2013, his rights were traded to

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

in exchange for a fourth-round

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Janua ...

pick. on July 9, 2013, Nanchoff was loaned to Swedish club Jönköpings Södra until November 27, 2013. After splitting 2015 between the Portland Timbers first team and

Portland Timbers 2 Portland Timbers 2 is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. The team, often referred to as "T2", serves as the reserve squad for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team was a member of the USL Champ ...

, Nanchoff signed a one-year contract with an option for 2017 with the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

on January 8, 2016. Nanchoff announced his retirement from professional soccer on February 28, 2019. Nanchoff joined the coaching staff at the

the same day.

Personal

Both his father, George Nanchoff, and his uncle,

Louis Nanchoff Louis "Louie" Nanchoff (born May 13, 1956) is a retired soccer player. He spent three seasons in the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer League and seven seasons in the Major Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League. B ...

, played for

and later in the NASL. Both collected ten

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scored a goal for the US national team.

Honors

University of Akron * NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Portland Timbers *

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 ...

: 2015 * Western Conference (playoffs): 2015 *Western Conference (regular season): 2013

References

External links

*
Portland Timbers bio

Akron Zips bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanchoff, Michael 1988 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Soccer players from Cuyahoga County, Ohio Akron Zips men's soccer players Cleveland Internationals players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23 players Portland Timbers players Jönköpings Södra IF players Portland Timbers 2 players Tampa Bay Rowdies players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players Superettan players USL Championship players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Vancouver Whitecaps FC draft picks People from North Royalton, Ohio Men's association football wingers Akron Zips men's soccer coaches American soccer coaches