Niko Giantsopoulos
Nikolaos "Niko" Giantsopoulos (born June 24, 1994) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for York United FC. Early life. Giantsopoulos played youth soccer with Unionville Milliken SC, Pickering SC, and Ajax SC. With Ajax, he won the national U18 championship in 2011. College career. Adrian College. In 2012, he began his college career with NCAA Division III school Adrian College in Michigan. He won All-MIAA first team accolades and NSCAA Division III All-Central region honors in 2013. He played there for two seasons, but decided to transfer schools after the soccer  coaching staff was relieved of their duties. Calvin College. Despite interest from NCAA Division I and Division II schools, he decided to transfer to Division III Calvin College. In his two seasons at Calvin, he was named to the All-MIAA first team and the NSCAA Division III All-Central Region first team twice as well as the NSCAA Division III All-America third team. He help lead them to the MIAA championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. During his two years as Calvin's starting goalkeeper, he posted a won-loss record  of 40-3-4, including a 28-0 record in MIAA competition. Club career. Durham United. He served as an unused substitute keeper for Durham United FC for a match in League1 Ontario in 2014, but did not play. Devonport City. In March 2016, Giantsopoulos joined Devonport City in the NPL Tasmania, the second tier of soccer in Australia. He started all 21 matches for Devonport in the 2016 season, helping to lead the team to a league championship and was named to the NPL Tasmania Team of the Year. In the 90th minute of the Round of 16 match  in the FFA Cup against Bentleigh Greens with the score at 0-0, he suffered a shoulder injury and was forced to leave the game, which Devonport ultimately lost 1-0, after extra time. As a result of the injury, he also missed the Semi-Finals and Finals of the NPL Tasmania Playoff Series, where Devonport ultimately lost in the Finals, as well as the NPL Finals Series for the champions of each of the regional leagues. He won the inaugural "Players' Player" Award. Broadmeadow Magic. In 2017, he joined Broadmeadow Magic in the NPL Northern NSW, a different regional  league in the same second tier of Australian soccer. Launceston City. Giantsopoulos would return to the Tasmania regional division, signing with NPL Tasmania club Lauceston City for the 2018 season. He would be named vice-captain of the club, and would start all 21 matches in 2018. On August 18, in a match against South Hobart, as a penalty shot was about to be taken, Giantsopoulos ran up and kicked the ball away before it could be taken. He was yellow carded, but his antics proved to be effective, as the ensuing penalty shot was missed. The incident became a  viral video around the world. This was part of a streak of three consecutive penalty saves in three matches for Giantsopoulos. He was named to the NPL Tasmania Team of the Year at the end of the season. Cavalry FC. Giantsopoulos returned to Canada and signed with Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League on January 23, 2019. He served as the backup goalkeeper behind Marco Carducci. He made his debut on May 16 in a Canadian Championship match against Pacific FC. After the season, he re-signed with the club for an additional year. After two years with Cavalry , Giantsopoulos would leave after the 2020 season in an attempt to gain more playing time. In his limited playing time for Cavalry, Giantsopoulos earned four clean sheets and had the best save percentage of any CPL goalkeeper. York United FC. On November 10, 2020, Giantsopoulos signed a two-year contract with his hometown club, York United FC. He made his debut for York United on July 7, 2021 in a 2-1 victory over Valour FC. Honours. Club. Devonport City Calvary FC