Stefan Karajovanovic

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Stefan Karajovanovic
Karajovanovic with Toronto FC II in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-04-16) April 16, 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Napier City Rovers
Number 19
Youth career
2012–2016 AS Hull
2015 Montreal Impact
2015–2016 Ottawa Fury
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Carleton Ravens 37 (35)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 Ottawa Fury Academy 5 (0)
2017–2018 FC Gatineau 14 (16)
2019 AS Blainville 12 (5)
2020 Ottawa South United 6 (7)
2021 HFX Wanderers 26 (1)
2022 Toronto FC II 19 (2)
2023– Napier City Rovers 12 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of September 1, 2023

Stefan Karajovanovic (born April 16, 1999) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for New Zealand club Napier City Rovers in the Central League.

Early life[edit]

Karajovanovic began playing youth soccer with the Association Soccer de Hull. In 2015, he joined the Montreal Impact Academy, where he played for four months before joining the Ottawa Fury FC Academy, due to moving to Ottawa for school.[1]

University career[edit]

In 2017, he began attending Carleton University in Ottawa, where he played for the Ravens soccer team.[2] He was named an OUA first-team all-star as a rookie.[3] During his three seasons at Carleton, he scored 35 goals in 37 appearances.[4]

Club career[edit]

Karajovanovic was a member of the Ottawa Fury FC Academy, where he made his semi-professional debut in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec[2] playing five matches during the 2016 season, while also appearing in 11 reserve team games scoring four goals.

In 2017 and 2018, he played for FC Gatineau in the PLSQ. During the 2017 season, he broke his collarbone which limited him to five total combined appearances in which he scored four goals (two goals in two league appearances),[5] but returned the following season with much greater success,[6] scoring 14 goals in 12 games.[7] He won the Ballon de bronze (Bronze Ball) as the league's third best player in 2018.[8]

In 2019, he joined AS Blainville in the PLSQ,[9] where he won the league championship.[10]

He was selected 5th overall in the 2019 CPL–U Sports Draft by York9 FC of the Canadian Premier League.[11] He trained with the club for five days, but the club did not have a roster spot for him, so he did not sign for the 2020 season.[12] Afterwards, he joined Atlético Ottawa for training, but did not join them for the 2020 season either.[12]

Instead for the 2020 season, he joined PLSQ club Ottawa South United, after switching over from defending champion Blainville.[13]

At the 2021 CPL-U Sports Draft, he was selected seventh overall by the HFX Wanderers FC.[14] In June, he signed with the club for the 2021 season.[15] He made his debut on June 26, 2021, against Pacific FC.[16] He scored his first professional goal on September 3 against Forge FC.[17] He departed the club at the end of the season.[18]

Several Canadian Premier League clubs expressed interest in him for the 2022 season,[19] however, in March 2022, he chose to sign with Toronto FC II in MLS Next Pro,[20][21] stating "when my eyes saw Toronto FC, I didn't think twice!".[19] He scored his first goal on July 18 against Philadelphia Union II.[22] He departed the club after the season, after the club declined his contract option.[23]

In December 2022, it was announced that he would be going on trial with Serbian SuperLiga club FK Napredak Kruševac.[24] Then, in February 2023, he went on trial with Pacific FC as part of their pre-season camp.[25] In May 2023, he joined New Zealand club Napier City Rovers FC in the Central League and made his debut on May 7, 2023, recording an assist against the Wellington Phoenix FC Reserves.[26] He helped the club qualify for the national New Zealand National League stage, but was not able to participate as he had to return to Canada to complete his university studies commitments.[27]

Personal[edit]

His family is of Serbian origin.[28] His grandfather played professional soccer in Bosnia and Serbia.[2]

Career statistics[edit]

As of match played on September 1, 2023[29]
Club Season League Playoffs Domestic Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ottawa Fury Academy 2016[30] Première Ligue de soccer du Québec 5 0 — — 0 0 5 0
FC Gatineau 2017[30] 2 2 — — 2 1 4 3
2018[30] 12 14 — — 0 0 12 14
A.S. Blainville 2019[30] 12 5 — 1 0 0 0 13 5
Ottawa South United 2020[30] 6 7 — — — 6 7
HFX Wanderers FC 2021 Canadian Premier League 26 1 0 0 1 0 — 26 1
Toronto FC II 2022 MLS Next Pro 19 2 0 0 — — 19 2
Napier City Rovers FC 2023 Central League 12 7 — 3 3 — 10 8
Career total 94 41 0 0 5 3 2 1 100 45

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Stefan Karajovanovic Profile". Ottawa Pro Sports Management.
  2. ^ a b c Skorzewska, Kassia (November 6, 2017). "Men's soccer dynamic duo lead OUA in scoring". The Charlatan.
  3. ^ "Ravens rookie leads nation's capital's men's soccer award winners". Ottawa Sportspage. November 30, 2017.
  4. ^ "Karajovanovic et Balbinotti sur le chemin de la CPL" [Karajovanovic and Balbinotti on the way to the CPL]. Just eSoccer (in French). November 13, 2019.
  5. ^ "Karajovanovic à l'assaut de Blainville!" [Karajovanovic assaulting Blainville!]. Just eSoccer (in French). June 2, 2018.
  6. ^ Comtois, Martin (June 19, 2018). "Machine à marquer chez le FC Gatineau" [Scoring machine at FC Gatineau]. Le Droit (in French).
  7. ^ "PLSQ-M: Mayard, Karajovanovic et André Finalistes" [PLSQ-M: Mayard, Karajovanovic and André Finalists]. PLSQ (in French). November 7, 2018.
  8. ^ "Tapis Rouge: Les Vainqueurs Dévoilés" [Red Carpet: The Winners Revealed]. PLSQ (in French). November 27, 2018.
  9. ^ Tougas, Marc (June 12, 2019). "Mayard et Karajovanovic: Un Duo Rêve...Qui Donne des Cauchhemars" [Mayard and Karajovanovic: A Dream Duo...Which Gives You Nightmares]. PLSQ (in French).
  10. ^ Jacques, John (November 4, 2019). "6 Prolific Goalscorers To Watch Out For In The 2019 CPL-U SPORTS Draft". Northern Tribune.
  11. ^ Jacques, John (November 11, 2019). "2019 CPL-U Sports Draft Roundup". Northern Tribune.
  12. ^ a b Briggins, Jonathan (July 23, 2021). "Living the Dream: Stefan Karajovanovic Makes the Jump". HFX Wanderers FC.
  13. ^ Tougas, Marc (October 6, 2020). "L'AS Blainville Champion D'un Cour Championnat...Encore Plus Court que Prévu" [AS Blainville Champion of a Short Championship... Even Shorter than Expected]. PLSQ (in French).
  14. ^ MacDonald, Glenn (January 29, 2021). "Wanderers select Carleton striker Karajovanovic, Montreal defender Sow in CPL-U Sports draft". Cape Breton Post.
  15. ^ Thompson, Marty (June 10, 2021). "HFX Wanderers bring back Scott Firth, sign CPL-U SPORTS Draft pick forward Karajovanovic for 2021". Canadian Premier League.
  16. ^ Jacques, John (June 26, 2021). "Lightning, Pacific Strike Twice To Sink Wanderers". Northern Tribune.
  17. ^ "Stefan Karajovanovic scores early, Wanderers beat Forge 2-0". TSN. September 3, 2021.
  18. ^ Jacques, John (November 22, 2021). "Halifax Wanderers Announce Six Player Departures". Northern Tribune.
  19. ^ a b "Stefan Karajovanovic (Toronto FC) : " La décision la plus facile à prendre "" [Stefan Karajovanovic (Toronto FC): “The easiest decision to make”]. Just eSoccer (in French). May 4, 2022.
  20. ^ "Toronto FC II sign Stefan Karajovanovic and Klaidi Cela". Toronto FC. March 31, 2022.
  21. ^ Jacques, John (March 31, 2022). "Toronto FC II Adds CPLers Karajovanovic And Cela". Northern Tribune.
  22. ^ Henry Jr, Larry (July 18, 2022). "TFC II inches closer to two-month unbeaten stretch after 2-1 win over Union II". MLS Next Pro.
  23. ^ Jacques, John (November 15, 2022). "'Unfinished Business': TFC2 Roster Update Hints At CPL Movement". Northern Tribune.
  24. ^ Jacques, John (December 26, 2022). "Karajovanovic Set For Serbian Superliga Trial". Northern Tribune.
  25. ^ Jacques, John (February 21, 2023). "Here's Who Is Trialing With Pacific FC". Northern Tribune. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  26. ^ @WeAreObelisq (May 7, 2023). "Earlier this week, forward Stefan Karajovanovic joined New Zealand 1st tier side Napier City Rovers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ^ Reid, Neil (September 11, 2023). "'Give it everything': Napier City Rovers out to impress in football's National League". New Zealand Herald.
  28. ^ Comtois, Martin (November 12, 2019). "La Première Ligue canadienne se tourne vers Gatineau" [Canadian Premier League turns to Gatineau]. Le Droit (in French).
  29. ^ Stefan Karajovanovic at Soccerway
  30. ^ a b c d e "PLSQ Stats Archive" (in French). TSI Sports.
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