Pacific FC add former Halifax goalkeeper Kieran Baskett

Pacific FC today announced the signing of Kieran Baskett ahead of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season.

The 21-year-old goalkeeper arrives on the Island after two seasons on the East Coast with Halifax Wanderers FC, where he represented the club in 21 matches after signing his first professional contract.

“Kieran is a complete goalkeeper with enormous potential, and I am motivated to have him join our team,” said Daniel Ortiz, Goalkeeper Coach, Pacific FC. “He adapts perfectly to our way of thinking about the game, and we value his ability to control the space in defense and how difficult he makes it to score against him.”

Baskett signed with the Wanderers out of 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 native of Halifax returned to his home province ahead of the 2021 CPL season and made his professional debut in a 2-1 win over A.S. Blainville in the Canadian Championship in July 2021. The six-foot-four shot-stopper went on to take over the number one spot from fellow Haligonian Christian Oxner for the rest of the season, starting 10 of the Wanderers’ final 12 games. He closed out the year with three wins, four draws, and four clean sheets.

Last season, Baskett battled with Oxner for the starting spot in the Wanderers’ goal. Baskett finished the season with nine CPL matches to his name. Five of those games ended in clean sheets for Baskett, including a run of three straight in mid-September.

Baskett spent last offseason gaining top-quality experience by training with English Championship side Coventry City.

He joins Emil Gazdov, 19, in Pacific’s goalkeeping ranks this season. The pair of young Canadian goalkeepers will be learning under Ortiz, who joined the club last month from FC Barcelona.

“Our fans are going to really enjoy his game,” said Ortiz.

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 Josh Heard, Cedric Toussaint, Sean Young, Pierre Lamothe, Steffen Yeates and Manual Aparicio and forward Easton Ongaro, Abdul Wahid Binate, Djenairo Daniels, Ayman Sellouf and Adonijah Reid.