COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maryland men's soccer head coach Sasho Cirovski announced the addition of Canadian youth international forward and Toronto FC Academy product Jacen Russell-Rowe for the 2020 season Friday morning.

Russell-Rowe, a nominee for Canadian Youth International Player of the Year in 2019, represented Canada at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil and scored two goals in three appearances. He became the third Canadian to score in back-to-back game at the U-17 World Cup.

"I am extremely excited to welcome Jacen to the Maryland Soccer family," Cirovski said. "Jacen is a proven goalscorer and link up target player. He has a real nose for the goal and a skillset that enables him to score in a variety of ways. With both the Toronto FC Academy and the Canadian U-17 National team, he has proven himself to be one of the top young strikers in North America and I can't wait to integrate him into our team for 2020. He is a real competitive young man with great character qualities and really fits into the culture of our program. With Jacen's signing and the announcement of new Maryland Soccer Stadium project on Wednesday, It's been a great start to 2020!"



The Brampton, Ontario native helped Canada qualify for the U-17 World Cup at the 2019 CONCACAF Men's Under-17 Championship, scoring two goals including one against the United States. Russell-Rowe made his debut in the Canadian youth program at an identification camp in 2016.  

At Toronto FC, Russell-Rowe was a goal-scoring machine in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, bagging 19 goals in 13 games for the U-16/17 set up in the 2018-19 season. For his career in the USSDA, Russell-Rowe tallied 40 goals in 33 appearances. He also made an appearance in USL League One for Toronto FC II.

Russell-Rowe represented Toronto FC in the Generation Adidas Cup in 2018 and 2019 along with playing in the LIGA MX International Tournament in 2017 and 2018. He participated in the 2018 ESP Adidas All-Star event and was coached by Danny Dichio at Toronto FC. He attended St. Edmund Campion High School and was an Honor Roll Student.  

Russell-Rowe is Maryland's fourth 2020 squad addition after Cirovski announced the addition of Ben Bender (Parkville, Md.), Jamie Lowell (Brentwood, N.H.) and Joe Suchecki (New York, N.Y.) in December. The Terps will also return nine starters from a 2019 squad that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.