Kristian Yli-Hietanen

Kristian Yli-Hietanen (born 31 May 1996) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Käpylän in the Ykkönen.

Kristian Yli-Hietanen
Personal information
Date of birth (1996-05-31) 31 May 1996
Place of birth Tampere, Finland
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Käpylän
Number 15
Youth career
Ilves
North Vancouver FC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2016 Capilano Blues 26 (15)
2017–2018 UBC Thunderbirds 32 (14)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017 TSS FC Rovers 10 (2)
2019 TSS FC Rovers 7 (1)
2020 TPV 8 (3)
2021 FC Lahti 21 (1)
2021 → Reipas Lahti (loan) 2 (0)
2022 Käpylän 22 (16)
2023 Haka 7 (0)
2023– Käpylän 3 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 August 2023

Early life

Born in Tampere, Finland,[1] Yli-Hietanen began playing youth soccer with Ilves,[2] In 2007, he moved to North Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada with his family,[1] where he played youth soccer with North Vanocuver FC.[3] After graduating high school at Sutherland Secondary School, he was not recruited by any university programs and began working construction as a labourer and a painter.[1]

University career

In 2015, he began attending Capilano University, where he was the 2015 PACWEST Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, as well as Golden Boot award winner after scoring eight goals in 14 league games.[3] He also helped Capilano win the PACWEST Gold Medal and the national CCAA silver medal and was named a CCAA All-Canadian and CCAA Tournament All-Star.[4] In February 2016, he decided to transfer to Simon Fraser University,[3][5] however, he ultimately remained with Capilano instead for 2016.[6] In 2016, they repeated as PACWEST Gold medalists and won the CCAA bronze medal.[4]

In 2017, following two successful seasons with the Capilano University men's soccer team, Yli-Hietanen would move on to the University of British Columbia.[1] On September 30, 2018, he scored 4 goals in a game against the University of North British Columbia Timberwolves.[7][8] While in university, he also played amateur senior soccer with Rino's Tigers in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League from 2017 to 2019.[9]

Club career

In 2017, he played for TSS FC Rovers in the Premier Development League.[6][10] He would return to TSS FC for the 2019 season,[11] scoring once in seven appearances.[12]

In 2020, he returned to Finland, signing with Tampereen Pallo-Veikot (TPV) of the third tier Kakkonen.[13]

In 2021, Yli-Hietanen approached Reipas Lahti and went on trial with them, where he was recommended to the top tier side FC Lahti, where he signed a contract.[2][14] He scored his first goal in a 2021 Finnish Cup match against KTP on February 13.[15]

In 2022, he joined Käpylän in Kakkonen.[16]

On 9 January 2023, it was announced that Yli-Hietanen had signed a 1+1 year contract with FC Haka in the Veikkauslliga.[17]

On 14 July 2023, Yli-Hietanen rejoined Käpylän on a contract for the rest of the season.[18]

Career statistics

Club
As of 6 January 2022.[19]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
TSS FC Rovers 2017 PDL 10200–102
2019 USL League Two 7100–71
Total 173000073
TPV 2020 Kakkonen 8300–83
Lahti 2021 Veikkausliiga 2112[lower-alpha 1]100232
Reipas (loan) 2021 Kakkonen 20––20
Career total 4872100508
Notes
  1. Appearances in the Finnish Cup

References
  1. Tsumura, Howard (10 October 2018). "Kristian Yli-Hietanen: At first unwanted, UBC's Finnish-born phenom is showing both the flash and the finish". Varsity Letters.
  2. "Lisävoimaa hyökkäykseen Kanadasta - Kristian Yli-Hietanen FC Lahteen" [Additional power to attack from Canada - Kristian Yli-Hietanen to FC Lahti]. Veikkausliiga (in Finnish). 29 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. Frost, Steve (February 10, 2016). "Six Lower Mainland Athletes Sign With Men's Soccer". Simon Fraser University.
  4. "Kristian Yli-Hietanen Capilano profile". Capilano University.
  5. "SFU's six soccer recruits ready to rumble". The Peak. February 22, 2016.
  6. McColl, Michael (May 5, 2017). "Get To Know Your TSS Rovers: Kristian Yli-Hietanen". Away from the Numbers.
  7. Prest, Andy (October 10, 2018). "North Vancouver's Kristian Yli-Hietanen catches fire for UBC Thunderbirds". North Shore News.
  8. Hill, Gideon (September 30, 2018). "MSOC: Kristian Yli-Hietanen scores four goals in UBC win". Canada West Universities Athletic Association.
  9. McColl, Michael (May 12, 2019). "CCB stun Rino's Tigers with early offensive blitz to claim first BC Provincial Cup crown". Away from the Numbers.
  10. "Kristian Yli-Hietanen 2017 PDL Stats". USL League Two.
  11. Prest, Andy (June 4, 2019). "Vancouver TSS Rovers bring soccer passion to Canada". North Shore News.
  12. "Kristian Yli-Hietanen 2019 USL2 Stats". USL League Two.
  13. "Kristian Yli-Hietanen TPV:n kanssa sopimukseen" [Kristian Yli-Hietanen to an agreement with TPV]. Tampereen Pallo-Veikot (in Finnish). March 5, 2020. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021.
  14. Laiho, Roosa (July 15, 2021). "FC Lahden hyökkääjä janoaa maaleja" [FC Lahti striker is thirsty for goals]. Uusi Lahti.
  15. Gallindo, Peter (March 22, 2021). "Canadians Abroad Mailbag: Halbouni's progress, Gold Cup options and more". Peter Gallindo.
  16. "Kristian Yli-Hietanen sopimukseen edustusjoukkueen kanssa" [Kristian Yli-Hietanen enters into an agreement with the representative team]. Käpylän (in Finnish). 14 May 2022.
  17. https://www.sportti.com, Sportti com Estonia-. "Kakkosen maalitykki siirtyy Veikkausliigaan - "Asenne on juuri semmoinen, kuin me halutaan!" | Sportti.com". www.sportti.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-01-10. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  18. "Kristian Yli-Hietanen loppukauden sopimuksella kapaan". kapylanpalloedustus.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  19. Kristian Yli-Hietanen at Soccerway
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