Lucky Mkosana

Luckymore "Lucky" Mkosana (born 30 September 1987 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) is a Zimbabwean footballer who currently plays for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship.[1]

Lucky Mkosana
Personal information
Full name Luckymore Mkosana
Date of birth (1987-09-30) 30 September 1987
Place of birth Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Number 77
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Dartmouth Big Green 73 (44)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011 Michigan Bucks 10 (3)
2012–2013 Harrisburg City Islanders 44 (22)
2013 → Tampa Bay Rowdies (loan) 9 (2)
2014 Tampa Bay Rowdies 27 (2)
2015–2016 New York Cosmos 60 (11)
2017 IFK Mariehamn 9 (2)
2017 New York Cosmos 15 (4)
2018 Penn FC 30 (11)
2019 Louisville City 16 (5)
2019– Tampa Bay Rowdies 26 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 October 2020

Playing career

College and Ameteur

Mkosana played college soccer at Dartmouth College between 2008 and 2011. During his time at Dartmouth, Mkosana was named Ivy League Player of the Year (2011), All-Ivy League First Team (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), Soccer America Freshman, All-America First Team, College Soccer News Freshman, All-America First Team and Ivy League Rookie of the Year (2008). He became Dartmouth’s all-time career leader with 34 career goals, breaking a record that had stood since 1953.[2] Mkosana played for USL Premier Development League club Michigan Bucks in 2011.[3]

Chicago Fire selected Mkosana in the second round (No. 23 overall) of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, but wasn't signed by the club.[4][5]

Harrisburg City Islanders

Mkosana signed with USL Pro club Harrisburg City Islanders in May 2012.[6] Mkosana became a regular goalscorer for the City Islanders over the next two seasons, scoring 20 goals and providing 4 assists during the regular season play.[7] The latter half of the 2013 season, Mkosana scored 10 goals in the 7 matches (including two hattricks) and earn USL Team of the Week honors for four consecutive weeks.[8]

Tampa Bay Rowdies

At the conclusion of the USL 2013 season, Mkosana secured a loan deal to Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL.[7] After completion of a successful loan spell, Mkosana signed a permanent deal with the Rowdies in January 2014.[9]

New York Cosmos

On 24 November 2014, Mkosana signed with NASL club New York Cosmos.[10] His performance through most of the 2015 season earned him a contract extension in September 2015, scoring 5 goals in 19 appearances.[11] The striker scored seven goals and added one assist across all competitions for the Cosmos in 2015. Notably, Mkosana scored a 90th-minute equalizing goal against MLS club New York City FC in the U.S. Open Cup, propelling the Cosmos to an eventual win in penalty kicks.[12] During his time with the Cosmos, Mkosana helped the New York team win consecutive NASL championships in 2015 and 2016.[13]

IFK Marienhamn

On 30 December 2016, Mkosana signed a one-year contract, with the option of a second, with Finnish Veikkausliiga side IFK Mariehamn.[14] He would make 15 appearances for the Finnish champions, scoring 4 goals including 2 goals in the team's run to the quarterfinals of the 2016–17 Finnish Cup.[15]

Return to New York Cosmos

After a season competing in Finland, Mkosana returned to New York Cosmos in June 2017 to compete in the 2017 Fall season.[15][16]

Penn FC

Ahead of the 2018 season, Mkosana returned to Harrisburg signing with the newly branded Penn FC (formerly the Harrisburg City Islanders) in the USL Championship.[17] Despite a difficult season, Mkosana still managed to lead the team in goals, scoring 11 goals through 29 appearances.[18]

Louisville City

After finishing a single season with Penn FC, Mkosana moved to USL champions, Louisville City FC ahead of the 2019 season.[19][20] Traded mid-season, Mkosana scored 5 goals in 16 appearances.[21]

Return to Tampa Bay Rowdies

Despite good performances for Louisville, Mkosana rejoined the Rowdies midway through the 2019 season as part of a trade that saw Antoine Hoppenot go to Louisville.[22]

International career

Mkosana received his first international call-up to the Zimbabwe national team for its African Cup of Nations qualifier on 9 September 2018.[23]

Career statistics
As of match played 29 March 2020[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Harrisburg City Islanders 2012 USL Pro 17711–272
2013 261400–2614
Tampa Bay Rowdies (loan) 2013 NASL 9200–92
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2014 26210–272
New York Cosmos 2015 NASL 29532–327
2016 25430–284
IFK Mariehamn 2017 Veikkausliiga 926200154
New York Cosmos 2017 NASL 11200–112
Penn FC 2018 USL 291110–3011
Louisville City 2019 USL 15411–165
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2019 USL 18601–186
2020 100––10
Career total 215591660023165

Honors

New York Cosmos

References
  1. "Tampa Bay Rowdies Profiles | Lucky Mkosana". rowdiessoccer.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  2. "Lucky Mkosana Bio - DartmouthSports.com—Official Web Site of Dartmouth Varsity Athletics". Dartmouthsports.com. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  3. "Bucks Set for College Cups". Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  4. Oshan, Jeremiah (12 January 2012). "MLS Draft 2012: Chicago Fire Select Lucky Mkosana". SB Nation. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. Kingsley, Andrew. "Mkosana named Player of the Year". The Dartmouth. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  6. "Round 2 of the City Islanders-Richmond series to take place Friday night at Skyline Sports Complex | PennLive.com". Blog.pennlive.com. 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  7. Bullock, Michael (2 September 2013). "City Islanders have loaned Lucky Mkosana to the NASL's Tampa Bay Rowdies". PennLive.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  8. Bullock, Michael (13 August 2013). "City Islanders' Lucky Mkosana lands on USL PRO team of the week ... for fourth week in a row". PennLive.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  9. Mbele, Fortune (2014-01-05). "Zimbabwe: Mkosana Signs for U.S. Tampa Bay". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  10. "Cosmos sign Lucky Mkosana". Nycosmos.com. 24 November 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  11. "Cosmos Sign Lucky Mkosana To Extension". New York Cosmos. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  12. Wallerson, Ryan (18 June 2015). "In U.S. Open Cup, NASL's Cosmos knock out local rival New York City FC". SI.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  13. Nhakaniso, Daniel (25 June 2017). "Mkosana back at New York Cosmos". TheStandard.co.zw. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  14. "IFK Mariehamn vahvisti hyökkäystään – Mkosana sopimukseen". veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  15. "Striker Lucky Mkosana returns to the NY Cosmos". NYcosmos.com. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  16. "Lucky Mkosana Rejoins New York Cosmos".
  17. Lewis, Michael (21 March 2018). "THEY GET LUCKY: Ex-Cosmos Mkosana signs with Penn FC". frontrowsoccer.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  18. Mbele, Fortune (December 2018). "Mkosana on the move". newsday.co.zw. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  19. Lewis, Michael (19 December 2018). "GETTING LUCKY: Louisville City FC signs ex-Cosmos Mkosana". frontrowsoccer.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  20. "Louisville City FC scores forward Lucky Mkosana". 14 December 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  21. Harten, David (28 June 2018). "Louisville City FC sends Lucky Mkosana to Tampa Bay in rare midseason trade". Courier Journal. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  22. "Rowdies Welcome Lucky Mkosana Back To Tampa Bay". RowdiesSoccer.com. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  23. "Penn's Mkosana Named in Zimbabwe Squad for AFCON Qualifying". 2018-08-28.
  24. "L.Mkosana". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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