2025 Players
Name |
Pos |
Hometown |
School |
Last Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
M |
Quincy, IL |
Saint Louis |
Peoria City (USL 2) |
|
|
D |
Valencia, Spain |
Clarke |
Alcudia de Crespins CF (Spain) |
|
|
D |
Bowie, MD |
Bradley |
— |
|
|
F |
Bennington, NE |
Concordia (NE) |
Dakota Fusion (NPSL) |
|
|
GK |
Westminster, MA |
Bradley |
Eture FC (Spain) |
|
|
M |
Shawnee Mission, KS |
Loyola Chicago |
Des Moines Menace (USL 2) |
|
|
D |
Düsseldorf, Germany |
Evansville |
Alboraya UD (Spain) |
|
|
F |
Oegstgeest, The Netherlands |
Western Michigan |
VV Katwijk (The Netherlands) |
|
|
M |
Crystal Lake, IL |
Green Bay |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
F |
Washington, IL |
Bradley |
— |
|
|
D |
Norwich, England |
Bradley |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
GK |
Peoria, IL |
Chicago State |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
Jorge Ganem |
M |
El Paso, TX |
N/A |
CF Pachuca U23 (Liga MX, Clausura) |
|
D |
Morton, IL |
SIUE |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
M |
Roatan, Honduras |
Northern Illinois |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
M |
Seville, Spain |
Clarke |
Salerm Puente Genil FC (Spain) |
|
|
D |
Peoria, IL |
Bradley |
— |
|
|
Noah Grieshaber |
GK |
Normal, IL |
Normal U-High |
Peoria City (U23) |
|
GK |
Morton, IL |
Illinois College |
Peoria City (U23) |
|
|
M |
Princeville, IL |
Duke |
— |
|
|
F |
The Hague, The Netherlands |
Embry-Riddle |
HBS Craeyenhout (The Netherlands) |
|
|
F |
Peoria, IL |
Michigan State |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
Quinton Hynek |
M |
Peoria, IL |
Peoria Christian HS |
Peoria City (U23) |
|
F |
Lewisville, TX |
Bradley |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
M |
St. Louis, MO |
Marquette |
FC Ambush (USL2) |
|
|
M |
Tulsa, OK |
Tulsa |
— |
|
|
D |
Peoria, IL |
Western Illinois |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
F |
Tegucigalpa, Honduras |
Clarke |
Tobacco Road FC (USL2) |
|
|
F |
Bradley |
Bradley |
Ocean City FC (USL2) |
|
|
M |
Kanazawa, Japan |
Knox |
Zwiegen Kanazawa (Japan) |
|
|
Elijah Nelson |
F |
Snellville, GA |
— |
KSA (MLS Next) |
|
D |
Western Michigan |
Western Michigan |
Kalamazoo FC (USL2) |
|
|
F |
Peoria, IL |
Eastern Illinois |
Hilal Matrouh (Egypt) |
|
|
Owen Pacetti |
M |
Bloomington, IL |
Normal U-High |
Peoria City (U23) |
|
M |
Indianapolis, IN |
Northern Illinois |
Indy Eleven (USL Academy) |
|
|
F |
St. Charles, IL |
Clarke |
Peoria City (USL 2) |
|
|
D |
Montreal, Quebec |
Clarke |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
D |
Durban, South Africa |
Clarke |
— |
|
|
Jeremy Saygbe |
D |
Providence, RI |
— |
CD Alhaurino (Spain) |
|
Declan Schuler |
D |
Peoria Notre Dame HS |
Peoria Notre Dame HS |
Central Illinois United |
|
GK |
Boulogne-Billancourt, France |
Campbell |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
M |
London, England |
Bryant |
Haverhill Rovers (England) |
|
|
F |
Chicago, IL |
UIC |
— |
|
|
D |
Madrid, Spain |
Clarke |
Peoria City (USL2) |
|
|
F |
Madrid, Spain |
Clarke |
ED Almudena (Spain) |
|
|
D |
Peoria, IL |
St. Louis City 2 (MLS Next) |
St. Louis City 2 (MLS Next) |
|
|
F |
Oakville, Ontario |
Green Bay |
Toronto FC Academy |
|
|
F |
Kanagawa, Japan |
Clarke |
Dodge City Toros (UPSL) |
2025 Coaching Staff
Mike Paye
Head Coach
Former Creighton University player and a two-time junior college national champion as both a player and a coaching staff member, Mike Paye returns for his second year as Peoria City head coach.
The third head coach in Peoria City history, Paye led the Flying Carp to a historic campaign in his first year in 2024: USL League Two Playoffs runner-up, Central Conference champion and inaugural Lincoln Cup champion.
Paye is preparing for his fourth year as the head coach at Clarke College, a NAIA school located in Dubuque, IA. Coming off a 3-12 campaign the previous year, Paye led the Pride to a 7-10-1 mark in his first season as a head coach in 2021, posting the team’s best record in seven years. Paye’s squads have continued to build on that foundation, posting back-to-back winning seasons in 2022 (9-4-3) and 2023 (7-5-4) for the first time in program history.
Success on the field is nothing new for Peoria City’s new coach. Paye won NJCAA national championships as a student-athlete (2012) and assistant coach (2016) at Tyler (Texas) Junior College. In between, he enjoyed a 2-year career at collegiate power Creighton, helping the Bluejays reach the NCAA Division I National Championship quarterfinals in 2014 and 2015.
Zac Newton
Associate Head Coach
Indian Hills Community College men’s soccer head coach Zac Newton joins the Peoria City USL League Two squad as associate head coach in 2025.
In his first season at Indian Hills, Newton led the Warriors to the most successful season in program history as the program finished the year ranked second nationally by United Soccer Coaches after producing a 16-2-3 record and NJCAA D1 national tournament semifinals appearance.
Newton’s early success at Indian Hills is not surprising given his previous success launching both the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Southeastern CC, where he led Blackhawks men’s team to the 2020-21 NJCAA D2 national championship in just the third season after starting the program in 2018. In his four years at Southeastern, Newton compiled a 76-69-5 combined men’s and women’s record, while coaching four NJCAA D2 All-Americans, two conference players of the year, 26 all-conference performers and 52 conference all-academic honorees.
Newton began his coaching career at Peninsula College, where he also began his collegiate playing career. He went on to play NCAA Division I soccer at Fairleigh Dickinson, before transferring to Niagara, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management in 2016.
Ethan Fineman
Goalkeepers Coach
Ethan Fineman joins the Peoria City men’s and women’s team coaching staffs as Goalkeepers Coach in 2025.
Following his playing career at Illinois Wesleyan, where he was a three-year letterman (2021-23) and a two-time team captain (2022-23), Fineman joined the Heartland Community College men’s and women’s soccer coaching staffs as goalkeeper coach in 2024. In his role, Fineman designed and implemented specialized goalkeeper training sessions, while working with both head coaches to integrate goalkeepers into team tactics. Fineman also works as a private goalkeepers coach.