Anthony Novak
Canadian soccer player (born 1994)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthony Joseph Novak (born March 27, 1994) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-forward.
|
Novak in 2019 with Forge FC | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Joseph Novak | ||
| Date of birth | March 27, 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Pickering, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Pickering SC | |||
| Wexford SC | |||
| 2008 | Glen Shields Sun Devils | ||
| 2009–2012 | Toronto Lynx | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2015 | Lake Erie Storm | 65 | (14) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2014 | Toronto Lynx | 21 | (1) |
| 2015–2018 | Oakville Blue Devils FC | 39 | (28) |
| 2019–2020 | Forge FC | 24 | (8) |
| 2021 | Condeixa | 6 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Cavalry FC | 24 | (4) |
| 2023 | Valour FC | 23 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of October 6, 2023 | |||
Early life
Novak was born in Pickering, Ontario[1] and began playing youth soccer with Pickering SC.[2] He played as a goalkeeper in his youth with Wexford SC, Glen Shields SC, as well as the Durham regional program.[3] He later joined the youth system of the Toronto Lynx.[4]
College career
In 2012, he committed to attend Lake Erie College,[5] where he would play four seasons of NCAA Division II soccer.[6] He scored his first collegiate goal on September 2, 2012 against [7] In 2013, he was earned All-Ohio Division II honours.[8] In 2014, he was named to the All-GLIAC First Team, All-Ohio First-Team, and All-Midwest Region Third Team honours.[9][10][11] On October 25, 2015, he scored a hat-tick against the Walsh Cavaliers.[12] In 2015, he earned All-Midwest Second-Team, All-GLIAC Second-Team, and All-Ohio Second-Team honours.[13][14][15] During his time with Lake Erie, he made two appearances as a goalkeeper, starting a match against the Tiffin Dragons on October 23, 2013 and taking over late in a match against the Seton Hill Griffins, following a red card to the starting goalkeeper on September 5, 2015.[16][17]
Club career
From 2012 to 2014, he played with the Toronto Lynx in the Premier Development League.[18]
In 2015, he began playing with Oakville Blue Devils FC in League1 Ontario,[19] who re-branded from the Lynx, upon the Lynx's folding.[3] On April 29, 2018, he scored a hat trick in the season opener in a 5-0 victory over Toronto Skillz FC.[20][21] In 2015, he was named a league Mid-Season All-Star.[22] In 2017 and 2018, he played in the league all star games against the PLSQ.[23][24] On August 12, 2018, he scored another hat-trick in a 5-0 victory over Ottawa South United.[25] In 2018, he won the league's Golden Boot as the top goal-scorer with 18 goals during the season[26] and was also named a league First Team All-Star.[27] With the Blue Devils, he won the L1O championship in both 2015 and 2017.[28]
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In April 2019, he joined Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League,[29][30] after participating in a two-week trial with the club during their pre-season.[31] On May 8, he made his debut for the club against Pacific FC,[32] also scoring his first goal for the club, scoring just three minutes into the match.[33][34] On August 13, 2020, he scored an overhead kick goal against Cavalry FC.[35] On October 22, 2020, he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Municipal Limeño of El Salvador in a CONCACAF League match[36][37] and added an assist in a victory against Panamanian club Tauro FC.[38] With Forge, he won the league championship in both 2019 and 2020.[39] Over his two seasons with Forge, he scored nine goals and added five assists in 32 matches across all competitions.[40]
In February 2021, he signed his first contract abroad,[41] joining Campeonato de Portugal side Clube Condeixa.[42][43] He joined on a contract until the end of the 2020/2021 season.[44][45] He recorded his first assist in a 1-0 win over Vitória de Sernache.[46]
In April 2021, he returned to the Canadian Premier League, signing a multi-year contract with Cavalry FC.[47][48][49] He made the 3400 km trip to Calgary from Ontario entirely by car, upon his signing.[50] He scored two goals against his former club Forge that season.[51][52] In March 2022, he tore his lateral collateral ligament, which required surgery, causing him to miss the entire 2022 season.[53]
In March 2023, he signed with Valour FC in the Canadian Premier League.[54][55][56] He scored his first goal for the club in the season opener on April 16, against York United FC.[57]
Career statistics
- As of July 9, 2023[58]
| Club | League | Season | League | Playoffs | National Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Toronto Lynx | Premier Development League | 2012[59] | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2013[59] | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||||
| 2014[60] | 12 | 1 | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | ||
| Oakville Blue Devils FC | League1 Ontario | 2015 | ? | ? | — | — | — | ? | ? | |||
| 2016[61] | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 2017[62] | 21 | 10 | — | — | — | 21 | 10 | |||||
| 2018[63] | 16 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 20 | 21 | |||
| Total | 39+ | 28+ | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 43+ | 31+ | ||
| Forge FC | Canadian Premier League | 2019 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 6 |
| 2020 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 1 | 13 | 3 | |||
| Total | 24 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 35 | 9 | ||
| Condeixa | Campeonato de Portugal | 2020–21 | 6 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Cavalry FC | Canadian Premier League | 2021 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| Valour FC | Canadian Premier League | 2023 | 23 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | — | 24 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 137+ | 42+ | 6 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 156+ | 47+ | ||
Honours
Forge FC