SEATTLE, WASH. – Tacoma Defiance today announced that it has signed midfielders Sota Kitahara and Carlos Anguiano, as well as goalkeeper Christian Herrera. The club also exercised the contract options of defender Abdoulaye Cissoko and midfielders Ray Serrano and Marlon Vargas. Players already under contract for Tacoma in 2021 include defenders Eric Kinzer, Taylor Mueller and Alex Villanueva, midfielders Reed Baker-Whiting, Azriel Gonzalez and Danny Robles, as well as forward Alec Díaz.
Kitahara, a Homegrown Player, signs a professional contract with Defiance after starting 13 of 14 appearances for Tacoma in the 2020 USL Championship regular season. Herrera started six games for Defiance last season on loan from Oakland Roots SC, but now joins the club as its only current goalkeeper on the roster. Anguiano joins Tacoma after spending the last four seasons with Portland Timbers 2.
Tacoma Defiance announce roster changes
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Tacoma Defiance announced a number of roster decisions on Tuesday as the USL Championship off-season is well underway. The announcement is headlined by the news that Tacoma has added three new players to the roster: Sounders Academy product Sota Kitahara, Carlos Anguiano, and Christian Herrera.
Kitahara, 17, is a central midfielder who has also seen time at right back. In 2019 he played the second most minutes and started the second most games for Tacoma Defiance as a locked-in part of the team’s double-pivot. Anguiano, 21, came up through the Portland Timbers Academy before signing with Portland Timbers 2 in 2019. The Timbers product is a central midfielder who joins Tacoma with 50 USL Championship games and nearly 4,000 minutes at that level under his belt, and should help to bolster the Defiance midfield in the absence of Jesse Daley. Herrera, 23, is a goal keeper who spent part of 2020 with Tacoma Defiance on loan from