By The Canadian Press

Canadian striker Marcus Caldeira wonders what’s next as time at West Virginia ends

Dec 18, 2025 | 8:12 AM

As more than 430 athletes awaited the outcome of Thursday’s MLS SuperDraft, Canadian striker Marcus Caldeira faced a different deadline.

After being taken in the first round (20th overall) by Minnesota United in the 2024 draft (held Dec. 19, 2023), the 21-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., returned to West Virginia University where he continued to add goals to his resume.

Minnesota’s two-year window on Caldeira expires Dec. 31. After that, any MLS club can then place him on its Discovery List, giving it first dibs on signing him at a future date unless another club makes a trade to get him.

Caldeira was not willing to forgo his college eligibility with Minnesota unless offered a contract. He did train with the team briefly the year he was drafted but paid his own way.

“At this point I’m kind of playing the waiting game with Minnesota, to be honest with you,” said Caldeira, who graduates Saturday. “Obviously it’s fingers crossed and I hope I can keep playing the sport I love at that next level. But it’s difficult.”

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Also exciting and nerve-racking as one door closes and another, hopefully, opens. He plans to return home and work out, while awaiting the next chapter of his soccer career.

Caldeira leaves West Virginia with 42 goals and 15 assists in 84 career appearances, including 77 starts. His 42 career goals and 99 career points rank third in Mountaineer history while his 17 game-winning goals set a program record.

The six-foot-two 193-pounder leaves on a high note, scoring a hat trick in the Mountaineers’ 4-3 win over St. John’s in the first round of the NCAA tournament and adding another goal in West Virginia’s 3-2 loss to High Point in the second round.

West Virginia finished the season at 13-5-3, ranked 23rd by the United Soccer Coaches.

Caldeira’s performance against St. John’s was remarkable. With West Virginia trailing 2-0 after 68 minutes, he started the comeback when a sliding teammate found him alone in front of goal. Caldeira calmly deked the goalkeeper and knocked the ball home.

Caldeira pulled the Mountaineers even at 3-3 in the 87th minute, completing a give-and-go before racing to the stands to celebrate with West Virginia fans.

His third goal was the pièce de résistance.

Controlling a long ball sent into the Red Storm half with his chest and boot, while eluding two St. John’s players, Caldeira turned and headed towards the Red Storm goal on a solo mission. He dribbled through four players before sending a shot under the ‘keeper for the winner four minutes into extra time.

The celebration was almost as good as Caldeira, removing several layers, stripped naked from the waist up and jumped into stands to celebrate with the crowd. It marked his seventh career multi-goal game and second career hat trick for the Mountaineers.

The Canadian finished his senior year with 14 goals and seven assists, adding first team all-America honours to the second-team status he achieved in 2023. His 35 points on the season were the most by a Mountaineer since Jack Cardosa’s 59 in 1973.

The senior was also named the Sun Belt Player and Offensive Player of the Year and named to the All-Southeast Region First Team, and a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist.

Caldeira, who majored in finance, will miss Morgantown.

“This place has meant the world to me,” he said. “From a maturity standpoint, from a development standpoint, it has given me everything to succeed … I own everything to West Virginia and will always call this place my second home.”

The West Virginia roster included talent from Argentina, Cyprus, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain as well as Canadian defender Tristan Pusztahegyi (Kitchener, Ont.) and midfielder Tyler Londono Zapata (Toronto).

Caldeira, who attended Port Credit Secondary School, played for Toronto-area academy Sigma FC until he was 16, when he got a development contract with Forge FC. He made his debut with the Canadian Premier League club at 17 and did his last year of high school online while training with Hamilton-based Forge.

He recorded one assist in four appearances for Forge.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press