Photo: Courtesy of Northern Tribune
NASHVILLE – With its first competitive minutes of 2024 quickly approaching, Nashville SC made two moves within five days of each other that continued the club’s two central offseason themes – add to the attack, and get younger. The club added 22-year-old Woobens Pacius and 21-year-old Julian Gaines, two players who likely won’t see many minutes this season, but could potentially factor into Nashville’s future plans.
Pacius was signed from the Canadian Premier League’s Forge FC where he scored 32 goals in 93 appearances across all competitions. He also received a CPL Best Canadian U-21 Player nomination in 2022 and won back-to-back North Star Cups.
In 2023, Pacius led the CPL with one goal per 140 minutes and led Forge FC with 10 scores in total.
The young forward certainly has a flair and confidence about him that Nashville fans will fall in love with once he sees playing time.
Pacius joins center-back Lukas MacNaughton as the other CPL-to-MLS transfer on Nashville’s current squad.
In addition to Pacius, Nashville SC rewarded preseason trialist Julian Gaines with a professional deal ahead of the 2024 season with options for 2025 and 2026. As the younger brother of his now-teammate McKenzie, Gaines scored for Nashville in its preseason match vs. Birmingham Legion FC two weeks prior to his contract offering.
Gaines, primarily used as a right-back, made two MLS appearances for the 2023 Western Conference Champions Los Angeles FC in addition to heavy MLS NEXT Pro action. Previously, Gaines made 20 USL Championship appearances for Las Vegas Lights FC between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
