Mitchell Taintor (born September 11, 1994) 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 currently plays as a defender for

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio FC ...

in 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 ...

Career

Youth

Prior to his collegiate career, Taintor represented

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

's youth set-up. Totalling 58 appearances for the Under-16s and a further 24 appearances for the Under-18s, he featured in the

MLS Reserve Division The MLS Reserve League was a soccer league for the reserve teams of Major League Soccer with teams in both the United States and Canada. It was inaugurated on April 9, 2005, with the first official reserve game being a 2–0 victory by Chivas ...

while being named to the Adidas Interregional All-Star Select in 2008 and the Region I team in 2009.

College

Taintor attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

for four years, where he played for the Scarlet Knights. Scoring 13 times in 71 appearances, while also recording eight assists, he was named to the NSCAA Second Team All-Midwest Region, Second Team All-Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Conference All-Tournament Team. During his time in college, Taintor played for the Ocean City Nor'easters of the

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 ...

in 2013 before spending 24 games for

side

Real Boston Rams The Real Boston Rams were an American amateur soccer club based in Quincy, Massachusetts, Quincy, Massachusetts. The Rams play in the USL Premier Development League, the fourth division of the American soccer pyramid. Founded in 2012, the club pl ...

during 2014 and 2015. His final year with the Scarlet Knights was spent in the same league.

Professional

Taintor was drafted in the third round, 59th overall, in the

2016 MLS SuperDraft The 2016 MLS SuperDraft was the seventeenth 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 2016 convention was held in ...

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 ...

on January 19, 2016. After spending four games of pre-season with the first team, he made five appearances in

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 ...

's pre-season campaign. On March 15 it was announced that he had signed with the affiliate team ahead of their

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

season. He made his debut on March 26, in a 2–2 draw with

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. Hi ...

. Taintor signed with

Sacramento Republic Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that competes in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, t ...

for the 2018 season in January 2018. He was loaned to Toronto FC for one game in April, as Toronto's roster was shorthanded due to the majority of the team being in Mexico for a

Concacaf Champions League 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, ...

match. He scored a goal in that appearance for Toronto against the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

, which made him the 100th player to score a goal for the club. In February 2020, Taintor joined

. On December 16, 2020, Taintor returned to

ahead of their 2021 season. On August 25, 2021, Taintor was loaned back to

for the remainder of the 2021 season. He re-joined the club on a permanent basis on January 4, 2022.

Honors

Individual *

All League First Team:

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 ...

Defender of the Year:

Personal life

Taintor was born in

Willimantic, Connecticut Willimantic is a census-designated place located in Windham, Connecticut, United States. Previously organized as a city and later as a Borough (Connecticut), borough, Willimantic is currently one of two Local government in Connecticut#Special ta ...

, to Rob and Missy Taintor. He was raised in

Storrs, Connecticut Storrs ( ) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The village is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, ...

, alongside siblings Amy and Jared. His mother Melissa (Morrone) Taintor played soccer at the University of Connecticut, making All-New England three times and All - American in her senior year. She was inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 2020. Taintor's uncles Joe (Jr.) and Bill Morrone won the NCAA National Soccer Championship with Connecticut in 1981, with Bill also inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 2009. His grandfather, Joseph Morrone, was the first

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

head soccer coach. Taintor graduated from

with an undergraduate degree in Labor & Employment Relations.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taintor, Mitchell 1994 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer players Ocean City Nor'easters players Boston Rams players Toronto FC II players Sacramento Republic FC players Toronto FC players San Antonio FC players Men's association football defenders Toronto FC draft picks USL League Two players USL Championship players Soccer players from Connecticut Sportspeople from Windham County, Connecticut People from Willimantic, Connecticut People from Storrs, Connecticut Sportspeople from Tolland County, Connecticut Major League Soccer players 21st-century American sportsmen