LANGLEY, B.C. – After an impressive first season with the Spartans men's soccer team which saw him earn a Canada West Second Team All-Star and U SPORTS All-Rookie Team selection, Jake Ruby (North Vancouver, B.C.) was selected by HFX Wanderers FC (Halifax, Nova Scotia) in the second round of the CPL-U SPORTS draft. 

Following the 2019 U SPORTS Men's Soccer Championship in Montreal, the Canadian Premier League held a two-round draft, with 14 players selected from across the U SPORTS landscape. 

Ruby joins Spartan alum Joel Waterman (2018) as Spartans who have been selected in the draft. Waterman, who just completed his first season in the CPL with Cavalry FC (Calgary), was also selected 14th overall in the inaugural CPL-U SPORTS draft.

"We couldn't be happier for Jake," said Spartans head coach Mike Shearon. "He is such a competitor. In every training session, he competed – blocking shots, winning 1v1 battles and scoring goals.

"He has great skills in both passing and dribbling, and can do a variety of things on the field and really excited he's been given this opportunity."

Ruby's selection comes after a dominant first season with TWU. The first-year defender made an immediate impact with the Spartans, starting all 16 regular season games and one playoff game. An outside back, Ruby scored three goals and added two assists on the season, placing him fifth in team scoring. 

While Ruby's skill on the field this season was truly evident, his impact didn't end there. 

"The thing that impressed me most was his humility to get better every day." Shearon said. "He came to us to get healthy and to get better so that a team would draft him, and that's exactly what's happened. He deserves it."

The season saw him named to the Canada West All-Rookie Team, Canada West second-team, and U SPORTS All-Rookie Team. Ruby and the Spartans concluded the regular season with a 9-6-1 record, before falling 1-0 to Calgary in the Canada West quarter-finals last month (Oct. 26). 

Ruby will have a chance to join both Waterman and fellow TWU alum Elijah Adekugbe in the CPL, as the duo played together with Cavalry FC this past season. 

HFX Wanderers FC are coming off a season in which they finished seventh in the league with a 3-8-7 record. The team also selected first in the CPL-U SPORTS draft, taking Cory Bent from Cape Breton. 

2019 CPL-U SPORTS DRAFT
This truly unique partnership between the CPL and U SPORTS provides student-athletes with an opportunity to be signed to a CPL-U SPORTS Developmental Contract. This will allow student-athletes with one to four years of eligibility remaining to play with a CPL club in the spring and summer before returning to U SPORTS competition.

The draft order was determined in the reverse order of the combined CPL Spring and Fall season standings, with the caveat that the league champion Forge FC selected last.

2019 CPL-U SPORTS DRAFT
Pick    Player        Team        School        Pos.        
1st      Cory Bent    HFX Wanderers FC         Cape Breton    LW
2nd    Marcus Campanile    Valour FC        Cape Breton    CAM
3rd    Jan Pirretas Glasmacher    Pacific FC        Thompson Rivers    CB
4th    David Chung    FC Edmonton        Alberta        CM
5th    Stefan Karajovanovic    York9 FC        Carleton        ST
6th    Gabriel Bitar    Cavalry FC        Carleton        ST
7th    Gabriel Balbinotti    Forge FC        UQTR        FW
8th    Alex Zis        Forge FC        Guelph        CAM
9th    Moe El Gandour    Cavalry FC        Mount Royal    CM
10th    Isaiah Johnston    York9 FC        Cape Breton    RM
11th    Jacob Bosch    FC Edmonton        Alberta        CM
12th    Thomas Gardner    Pacific FC        UBC        FW
13th     Charlie Waters    Valour FC        Cape Breton    ST
14th    Jake Ruby    HFX Wanderers FC        Trinity Western    RB    

About the Canadian Premier League
Canadian Premier League (CPL) is Canada's professional men's soccer league which debuted in 2019. Playing in world-class and unique venues, and partnering with strong community-led ownership groups, CPL is a league for Canadians by Canadians that brings professional soccer to communities coast-to-coast. For more information, go to www.CanPL.ca

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
 
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