Kieran Baskett has joined Pacific FC ahead of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season.
The goalkeeper arrives on the Island after two seasons on the East Coast with HFX Wanderers FC.
Baskett signed with the Wanderers after playing with the College of William & Mary in the NCAA Division 1. During his season in Virginia, Baskett started and played every minute in all 18 of the team’s matches and led the Colonial Athletic Association conference with 71 saves.
The Halifax native’s next stop was back in his home province with HFX Wanderers when he signed his first professional contract ahead of the 2021 CPL season. The six-foot-four shot-stopper made his professional debut in a 2-1 win over A.S. Blainville in the Canadian Championship that season. Baskett went on to take over the no. 1 spot from fellow Haligonian Christian Oxner for the rest of the season by starting 11 of the Wanderers final 13 games. He closed out the season with three wins, four draws, and four clean sheets.
Last season, the 21-year-old again battled with Oxner for the starting spot in goal. Baskett finished the season having started nine CPL matches, five of which were clean sheets. Included in that was a run of three straight clean sheets in mid-September.
Baskett also spent last offseason gaining top-quality experience by training with English Championship side Coventry City.
He joins Emil Gazdov in Pacific’s goalkeeping ranks this season, which now features two young Canadian goalkeepers who will be learning under new Head Goalkeeper Coach Daniel Ortiz’s tutelage.
Pacific FC’s roster continues to take shape and now stands at 19 as preseason training continues, including goalkeepers Baskett and Gazdov, defenders Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, Kunle Dada-Luke, Paul Amedume, Amer Didić, Georges Mukumbilwa and Bradley Vliet, midfielders Sean Young, Cedric Toussaint, Pierre Lamothe, Steffen Yeates and Manny Aparicio and forward Josh Heard, Easton Ongaro, Abdul Wahid Binate, Djenairo Daniels, Ayman Sellouf and Adonijah Reid.
2023 Season Tickets are now available! Stay tuned to pacificfc.ca and follow the club on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest news.