Canadians Brunet, Clarke-Tosczak take different roads hopefully leading to the MLS

By Canadian Press on December 17, 2025.

Charles-Emile Brunet and Nikos Clarke-Tosczak took different routes to the MLS College Showcase, but both hope their road leads to Thursday’s MLS SuperDraft.

The two were the lone Canadians among the 45 players invited to the Dec. 10-13 combine in Mesa, Ariz.

Brunet, a sophomore at Southern Methodist University, is a creative midfielder who excelled at Ahuntsic College in his native Montreal and the University of Central Arkansas before heading to Dallas to join the Mustangs.

He grew up attending CF Montreal games and was part of the MLS team’s academy from the under-11 level until he was released at 14 or 15

“That was pretty hard for me, but I just kept going and had coaches believing in me,” Brunet said. “I just kept progressing, progressing and now here I am. I didn’t have the easiest route, but I’m happy with where I ended up.”

Clarke-Tosczak, a junior fullback from Edmonton, spent two years at the University of Rhode Island before helping the University of Portland to the quarterfinals of the recent NCAA soccer championships where a 1-0 loss to the 16th-seed Furman Paladins ended a stellar Pilots season at 14-2-4.

Canadian centre back Nikola Markovic did not attend the combine because North Carolina State was still alive in the NCAA tournament, losing 3-2 to the University of Washington in Monday’s final in Cary, N.C. The six-foot-four 205-pound sophomore from Gatineau, Que., has signed a Generation Adidas contract with the league, making him all the more desirable given such deals don’t count against a team’s salary cap budget.

The players at the showcase went through a variety of tests ahead of two games, with players each taking part in one half per outing. They also were made available to meet with clubs.

Brunet says he is in wait-and-see mode ahead of the draft.

“I think everyone’s keeping their cards (close to their chest),” said Brunet. “I don’t have that much information … I’ll be happy whoever gives me my first chance. I’ll be really happy.”

“Anything can happen,” echoed Clarke-Tosczak. “Nothing’s really in my control. I’m just here for the ride.”

“My soccer’s been my whole life … Of course it’s my goal is to go pro and do great things,” he added. “This is just the first step in achieving all my goals.”

A left back, he enjoys both defending and attacking.

Brunet has played as a No. 10, but has been given a free rein to play a box-to-box game at SMU.

Brunet, who scored a goal and added six assists in his first season with SMU, was named to the all-ACC third team and United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Second Team.

Before that, he earned Atlantic Sun Conference all-freshman team honours at Central Arkansas. Before that he was a nominee for the 2023 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men’s soccer player of the year and was a CCAA all-Canadian with Aigles d’Ahuntsic.

Back home, he played for CS Longueuil in Ligue1 Quebec.

Brunet’s father, Mathias Brunet, is a sports columnist for Quebec’s La Presse, and is no stranger to drafts. His book “Histoire de Repêchage” is filled with NHL draft stories, mostly Canadiens-related.

Brunet played a key role in helping SMU win its first ACC championship title in its second season as a member of the conference. He has savoured his time in Dallas on and off the field.

“The environment we have here is really close to a pro environment … which is what I wanted, to be ready to play pro one day” he said.

He recorded three assists in SMU’s 5-4 win over Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Championship, becoming the first Mustang with three or more assists in a single game since Gabriel Costa collected four against Temple in 2021.

SMU (11-5-4) went on to defeat Stanford, Syracuse and Virginia before its season ended in a 1-0 loss to eventual champion Washington in the second round of the NCAA Championship.

Clarke-Tosczak played all 20 matches in his first year with Portland, logged a team-high 1,643 minutes. He earned all-WCC honourable mention for his work in a Portland defence that allowed just 12 goals, the fewest since 1988 for a Pilots squad and tied for the sixth-fewest in U.S. college ranks.

Clarke-Tosczak joined the Whitecaps academy in August 2020 after youth stints with Lugano FC in Switzerland and SC Cambur in the Netherlands, as well as the Edmonton Warriors.

He and his father, a retired firefighter, lived in Como, Italy, commuting by train to Lugano.

“It was amazing,” Clarke-Tosczak said. “I learned Italian, met some great people. Learned a lot of great life experiences and I think I grew a lot.”

He made the move to Portland in search of a professional soccer environment.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press