PITTSBURGH (June 17, 2016) – The Pittsburgh Riverhounds announced another addition to their roster this month, signing midfielder Nick Thompson, brother of recently-signed Jack Thompson, to a one-year contract with a club option for the 2017 season.
Thompson will rejoin professional soccer after spending the past four years at various universities in a coaching capacity for soccer. He last played professional soccer for the Carolina RailHawks of the NASL in 2011.
Collegiately, Thompson played under Hounds head coach Dave Brandt at Messiah College during his freshman and sophomore years in 2008 and 2009, respectively. He was a four-year letterman in his Falcons’ career that included three NCAA National Championships (2009, 2010, 2011) and a bevy of individual accomplishments including Common Conference Player of the Year and NSCAA Second Team All-American honors in 2010.
Thompson finished his career at Messiah with 54 career goals and 18 assists.
“Nick is a big, versatile player with really good feet and athleticism,” Brandt said. “He’s been out of the professional game for a couple years, but he is somebody that I know well as a player. I think he can be a really solid contributor to the club here.”
Prior to joining the Hounds, Thompson served the as the head men’s soccer and golf coach at Eastern Nazarene Athletics in Quincy, Massachusetts for the 2015 season. He spent 2014 in Riverside, California, as an assistant women’s coach of Division II member California Baptist University and the two years prior as assistant men’s soccer coach for the Fighting Scots of Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.
Thompson’s ascent into the coaching ranks began with North Carolina State in the fall of 2011 as a volunteer assistant coach. He would move onto the same capacity under Brandt at the United States Naval Academy in the spring of 2012.
A native of Hudson, Ohio, Thompson will be available for Saturday night’s match against FC Montreal (1-10-1) at Highmark Stadium. Kick off is set for 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.riverhounds.com.
Quick Facts
Playing Experience
Carolina Railhawks (2011)
Messiah College (2008-11)
Coaching Experience
Eastern Nazarene Athletics (2015)
California Baptist University (2014)
Gordon College (2013-14)
Volunteer Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach, Naval Academy (2012)
Volunteer Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach, North Carolina State (2011)
Personal
Hometown: Hudson, Ohio
Accolades
Messiah College
– First Team All-Commonwealth, First Team All Mid-Atlantic, Second Team All-American, First team D3Soccer.com All-American, Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year
