Zachery Louis McGraw (born June 8, 1997) is a 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 defender 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

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 ...

. Born in the United States, he represents the Canada national team.

Youth and college

McGraw played as part of the USSDA academy side FC Golden State, graduated from West High School (Torrance, California) in 2015, before playing college soccer at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 2016. McGraw made 68 appearances for the Black Knights over four seasons, scoring a single goal and tallying 9 assists. McGraw, who was a four-time First Team All-Patriot League honoree and earned two USCA First Team All-Northeast Region recognition's in 2017 and 2018, and was named a 2019 USCA Third Team All-Northeast Region honoree. McGraw's younger cousin, Octavia, was a collegiate goalkeeper at Ottawa University in Arizona. His wife, Kaitlin, was a defender and captain for Long Beach State University. Their son, Trey, was born January 28, 2025.

Club career

On January 13, 2020, McGraw was drafted 68th overall in the

2020 MLS SuperDraft The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was the 21st edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first SuperDraft held exclusively via conference call and web streaming. The first two rounds of the 2020 SuperDraft we ...

. He became the first ever Army player drafted in

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional 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 sanctioned by the United ...

history. McGraw signed with the Timbers on June 22, 2020. McGraw made his first appearance for Portland on May 1, 2021, starting in a 4–1 loss to

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. He scored his first MLS goal for Portland on September 1, 2022, netting the game-winner in a 2–1 victory over

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

International career

McGraw was born in the United States, to an American father and Canadian mother. He holds both American and Canadian nationality. In June 2023, he was named to

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 ...

's preliminary roster 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 ...

. On June 19 McGraw was named to the final 23-man squad. He made his debut in the opening match on June 27 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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

West Point WebsitePortland Timbers Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGraw, Zac 1997 births Living people Soccer players from Torrance, California Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players American men's soccer players African-American soccer players Canadian people of African-American descent American sportspeople of Canadian descent Army Black Knights men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players Portland Timbers draft picks Portland Timbers players Portland Timbers 2 players Soccer players from California Military personnel from California 21st-century African-American sportsmen 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Canadian sportsmen