Canadian defenders Kwame Awuah, Dominic Samuel return to Forge FC for 2021 season

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Canadian defenders Kwame Awuah, Dominic Samuel return to Forge FC for 2021 season

Published Tuesday, February 2, 2021 12:22PM EST

Hamilton Forge FC's Dominic Samuel(4) and CD Olimpia's Junioe Lacayo (14) fight for posession during Scotiabank CONCACAF League 2019 first half soccer action in Hamilton on Thursday, August 22, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power

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HAMILTON -- Canadian defenders Kwame Awuah and Dominic Samuel will be back with Canadian Premier League champion Forge FC for the 2021 season.

The Hamilton-based team picked up contract options on both players.

In other Canadian Premier League news Tuesday, York United FC has sent newly signed defender Dominick Zator to Sweden's Vasalunds IF on a short-term loan.

York said Zator will return in the summer. The Canadian league is targeting the Victoria Day long weekend (May 22-24) as the kickoff for its third season, pending approval of local government and health authorities.

Both Awuah and Samuel have made 46 appearances in all competitions over two seasons with Forge.

Awuah, a 25-year-old from Toronto, previously spent two seasons with New York City FC after being taken in the first round (16th overall) in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. The University of Connecticut product attended two Canadian camps in 2017 but has yet to win a senior cap.

Samuel attended Southern New Hampshire University. The 26-year-old from Toronto previously played for the USL's Rochester Rhinos.

Both players also played for Sigma FC.

York announced Zator's signing on Monday.

鈥淲hen recruiting Dom, I promised to do everything in my power to help with his aim of getting back in the senior Canadian squad,鈥� York president and GM Angus McNab said in a statement.

鈥淩ight now, the way we can do that is by making sure he's playing games of a high standard and making sure he has opportunities to showcase what he can do. Dom can play 11-15 games between now and returning to us - that's of great benefit to him and our club because we'll have a player rejoining in peak form.鈥�

Zator, a 26-year-old from Calgary, spent the last two seasons with his hometown Cavalry FC.

Vasalunds IF won promotion to Sweden's second tier last year, The team is currently training ahead of the April start of the season.

鈥淭his loan played a pretty significant factor (in moving to York United) because it gives me the opportunity to play extra games and the biggest thing for players is playing as many games as you can in a year,鈥� Zator said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2021