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11 former USL Championship & League One standouts to follow at The Soccer Tournament

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 06/04/24, 11:20AM EDT

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Club legends, old-school favorites and star strikers are suiting up in North Carolina with $1 million on the line


Paolo DelPiccolo, Kevaughn Frater, Chandler Hoffman and Nazmi Albadawi are among the wide collection of USL alums set to suit up in The Soccer Tournament this week.

The second edition of 7-on-7 soccer event The Soccer Tournament kicks off on Wednesday in Cary, N.C. with some big names from the soccer and sporting world bringing together squads to compete for the $1 million prize at stake.

Among the players set to suit up in the men’s tournament, though, there will be plenty of familiar faces for followers of the USL Championship and League One. Thirty-one of the 48 teams competing in the tournament have at least one former USL Championship or League One player on their roster, with two of the squads in North Carolina FC and Nati SC – a squad comprised primarily of former FC Cincinnati players from the club’s USL Championship era – leading the group.

Here are 11 notable former Championship and League One standouts set to compete at the event over the next few days for you to follow on the tournament’s streaming platform and ESPN+.

Nazmi Albadawi – North Carolina FC

There is a plethora of former North Carolina FC players lined up to compete for the tournament’s host – TST is being held on the grounds at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. – with Albadawi one of the most notable. The attacking midfielder recorded 17 goals and nine assists in 60 appearances in the Championship and won the Players’ Shield in 2018 with FC Cincinnati in addition to an illustrious career with NCFC during its time in the North American Soccer League.

Brandon Allen – Hoya Nation

Brandon Allen is best-known for being the MVP of the 2016 USL Championship Final when his hat trick led the New York Red Bulls II to victory, but the former Georgetown University standout logged 53 goals and 11 assists in 125 appearances across the Championship’s regular season and playoffs overall in his career, which also included stops with Memphis 901 FC, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Oakland Roots SC.

Milton Blanco – Supra United FC

If we’re honest, Milton Blanco didn’t have the most illustrious career in the USL Championship – he notched one assist in 38 career appearances – but it’s hard not to smile when you think about the impact the man nicknamed “The Mayor” in Fresno had on soccer in the Central Coast. A legend in USL League Two for the Fresno Fuego – winning the league’s Player of the Year award in 2011 – Blanco is a USL legend for reasons that go beyond the field.

Corben Bone – Nati SC


Former FC Cincinnati standout Corben Bone is among a host of the club's former players suiting up for Nati SC in this year's TST.

Similarly to North Carolina FC’s squad, the Nati SC lineup will have a lot of familiar faces for longtime USL Championship followers given the side’s FC Cincinnati roots. Among those, Corben Bone had one of the longest and most impressive careers in the league, recording 25 goals and 24 assists across 197 appearances in the regular season and playoffs. A key part of FC Cincy’s 2018 Players’ Shield winning squad, he earned All-League honors before also winning the Eastern Conference with Louisville City FC in 2022.

Jeff Caldwell – The Concafa Soccer Club

During his USL Championship career, Jeff Caldwell wasn’t always blessed with the best defenses in front of him – and that may be the case again playing for Pat McAfee’s Concafa Soccer Club – but he was always seemingly up to the task. Across 89 appearances for Memphis 901 FC, Hartford Athletic and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, Caldwell posted 266 saves and a save percentage of 67.2 percent while stopping 8 of 20 penalty kicks in his career.  

Joey Calistri – Sneaky Fox FC

While he was never usually the biggest name on the teams he played for, you sure as heck wanted Joey Calistri on your side when it mattered. The midfielder had a career year with nine goals and six assists to help drive FC Tulsa to its first playoff appearance in 2017 and then went on to become a cult hero at Phoenix Rising FC, where he spent four seasons and scored some memorable goals. Teaming up with Mike Magee’s Sneaky Fox FC, there’s likely some magic here.

Paolo DelPiccolo – Saturdays Football

The two words that best describe Paolo DelPiccolo for Louisville City FC supporters? Club Legend. The longtime captain, two-time Championship title winner – claiming Final MVP honors in 2017 – and four-time Eastern Conference title winner was a fixture in LouCity’s midfield for eight seasons, making 227 appearances across the regular season and playoffs, part of a career that saw him record 280 appearances and log 24 goals and 22 assists in the league overall.

Kevaughn Frater – Reggae Rovers

The Jamaican forward could be hit and miss in his time in the Championship, but he hit more often and recorded 31 goals and 14 assists across 107 appearances in the regular season and playoffs. Frater’s most memorable campaign made him an instant New Mexico United legend in the club’s inaugural season when his 14 goals and five assists in the Championship and exploits in the club’s run to the Quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup made him a player you couldn’t overlook.

Chandler Hoffman – Kwik Goal FC

During his career in the Championship, Chandler Hoffman was seemingly always a man on the move, representing seven clubs between signings and loan moves during his career. Where he went, though, goals almost always followed. Hoffman scored his first 50 regular season goals in the Championship in 100 games – a mark that was only surpassed last season by Cal Jennings – and he still ranks sixth all-time in strike rate among players with at least 50 goals in the league’s regular season.  

Michael Lahoud – Borussia Dortmund

Michael Lahoud spent the final two seasons of his career in the USL Championship but earned silverware all the same as part of the midfield group that helped push FC Cincinnati to one of the best regular season campaigns in league history. The following year he headed to San Antonio FC, where he made 27 appearances and notched his lone goal in the league before calling it a career, from where he since gone on to make a successful pathway in television circles.

Jamie Watson – Summer of Soccer


Former Orlando City SC star Jamie Watson made his mark on lower-division soccer in America while also being a prolific playmaker for the Lions.

You know you’re a lower-division legend when there’s a chant that directly references you by name. That’s part of Jamie Watson’s legacy for longtime followers of the USL Championship, but the forward was also a two-time USL Championship title winner with Orlando City SC as he recorded 24 goals and 13 assists in 64 appearances across the regular season and playoffs for the Lions during the USL Championship era, while twice earning All-League honors.

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