Electric City Football Club Signs First Goalkeepers To Franchise History

Electric City Football Club (ECFC) has finally found players to guard the net. The club signed goalkeepers Mykaela Volpe and Quillan Roberts. to their women’s and men’s club respectively on Friday.

Mykaela Volpe (left) and Quillan Roberts (right) become the first ever goalkeepers in ECFC history. Photo courtesy of ECFC.

Volpe, 23, from Whitby, Ontario finished her fifth season at Nipissing University.

“We are thrilled to have Mykaela sign with us here at ECFC. She was one of the first players on our initial player list that we were wanting to acquire. She proved herself as the top goalkeeper across U Sports earning 1st team All-Canadian Honours,” said Randy Ribeiro, ECFC Women’s Coach. “Going an entire regular season without conceding a single goal is just unbelievable. She is a very talented goalkeeper that brings leadership and experience into our team.”

In 2021, Volpeand 8-0-1 record with nine shutouts. This streak continued until the Nipissing University’s Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoff defeat to Western University where she allowed a goal in penalty kicks.

“I think it’s really special to be part of the beginning of something and have the opportunity to build something great. When Coach Ribeiro first reached out to me regarding the opportunity, I was very excited about the environment, the ambitions for the group and it was an experience I immediately wanted to be a part of,” said Volpe. “I also think it’s a great opportunity to grow the game in Peterborough and show local kids the pathways they can pursue with soccer in Canada; especially for the younger girls who would be watching and looking up to us.”

Roberts, 27, is from Brampton, Ontario and has been a member of comedian Will Ferrell’s star-studded MLS team, LAFC, to being the first goalkeeper in history to score a goal in a FIFA finals tournament.

“The foundation of most successful football teams starts at the back with a talented and experienced keeper in net,” said Rob Jenkins, ECFC President. “We feel that Quillan brings the type of leadership and skills to our club that will help us reach our goals and have a positive impact in the community.”

Roberts was one of the first signings in Forge FC’s (Hamilton, ON) history. The goalkeeper has eight Canadian Premier League starts under his belt, with nine Goals Against and four Clean Sheets (second in the CPL that year). During his time at Forge FC, Roberts also started a Canadian Championship game and recorded a shutout in that match.

During his Toronto FC tenure, Roberts signed with TFC in 2012. The MLS club loaned Roberts out to the second-division United Soccer League (USL), where he played 43 games, recorded 12 Clean Sheets and had 64 Goals Against.

In 2018, Roberts signed with LAFC to be their backup goalie and was a part of the expansion team that made the MLS Cup Playoffs in their inaugural season.

“This is a chance for me to continue playing the game I love, at a club is doing things like top CPL sides from the beginning,” said Roberts. “I love the fact that ECFC is open about their plans to join the CPL in the future.”

In 2011, he was named to the Team Canada U17 squad at the 2011 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Mexico. Roberts started the second game of the tournament, against England.

In the 87th minute, with Canada losing 2–1, Roberts hoofed the ball into England’s net from inside his own half. That goal was the first scored by a goalkeeper in any FIFA finals tournament. Roberts started two other games at the Under-17 World Cup.

Roberts got his first cap for the Team Canada Men’s National Team in 2015, and was named to Canada’s CONCACAF Gold Cup squad in 2015 as well.

Since he only represented Canada in an exhibition game, Roberts was also eligible to represent the Guyana and Jamaica National Teams, his parents’ birth countries.

In May 2019, he was named to Guyana's final roster for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Roberts started in net for Guyana in the final Gold Cup group stage match against Trinidad and Tobago in a 1–1 draw.

Roberts has also played two seasons in League1 Ontario (1812 FC in 2021 and Woodbridge in 2017) and won the League1 Ontario Goalie of the Year both seasons, including an amazing 0.79 Goals Against Average in 2017.

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