Eduvie Ikoba ’19 and Justin Donawa ’19 Thrive as Professional Players in Europe

Attacking duo Eduvie Ikoba '19 and Justin Donawa '19 had great success during their playing careers at Dartmouth, and have now taken their ability and lessons learned to continue their careers overseas.

During their four years with the Big Green, the pair combined for 25 goals, 26 assists, six All-Ivy League accolades and two all-region teams, the pair also lifted three Ivy League Championships. Now they have moved into different countries, but both are still managing to find success, and the back of the net, just as they always have.

A powerful target man center forward, Ikoba has signed in the Hungarian Premier League for Zalaegerszegi Torna Egylet Football Club, more commonly known as ZTE. The club is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a professional franchise, and their most famous result came in 2002, when they defeated world power Manchester United 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League. In charge of the club is head coach Gabor Marton, who had a 22 year playing career in Europe, including 21 caps for the Hungarian national team.

In his rookie professional season, Eduvie has tallied eight goals and three assists, and attributes a large portion of his success to lessons learned during his time in Hanover.

"Some call my route here unconventional, but I think Dartmouth helped prepare me for this challenge of adapting to professional sports in a new environment. Being forced to balance the pressure of elite academics and top level soccer simultaneously was a lot, but it has helped."

"This has not only been adjusting to the professional level of soccer, but also the challenge of living in a new culture, of learning a second language and some of the other challenges that come with living abroad. When I was being recruited, some people tried to guide me to a top athletic school with maybe a lesser education side, but I don't know that I would have been as ready for this without that academic strain to strengthen me."

Another observation made by Ikoba of his time abroad is "once you play pro, it doesn't really matter where you came from to get here, people only care what you do while here." The start to his career suggests Eduvie will go on to big things in the professional game.

Ikoba's Season Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON2z4kbIQGs

In tandem with Eduvie, giving defenders nightmares on Burnham Field between 2015 and 2018 was lightning fast winger Justin Donawa.

Justin signed with Darlington FC in the National League North. Founded in 1883, Darlington has a rich history that has seen them finish as champions of English Football's fourth tier in 1991, and win the FA Trophy in 2011. Head coach Alun Armstrong will have plenty to teach Justin, having scored 83 professional goals in England, and spent some time playing in the world renowned EPL with Middlesbrough FC.

During his first season in England, Justin used the pace that caused such damage in the Ivy League to score nine goals in 38 games played. Highlights of the season include a seven-game unbeaten streak and the club also competed in the English FA Cup. The FA Cup is the world's oldest and most famous domestic club tournament, and Darlington faced Walsall of English professional soccer's fourth tier in the opening round.

The Walsall game saw Darlington score an injury time equalizer, a goal that as the video below shows, sparked manic celebrations in the Darlington crowd;

https://twitter.com/TheAwayFansVids/status/1193247934189592576

When asked about how his Dartmouth career helped him transition to his move to the professional game, Justin cited time management skills and discipline honed in Hanover that help him to this day.

"At Dartmouth, you have to balance a lot academically as well as off the field while performing at a high level, it's a lot going on at the same time. Now that I don't have that academic load, I am using that time to improve as a player in different ways. Dartmouth helped give me drive and I am happy to be here, but aspire to play at an even higher level."

Justin also excelled on the international stage for the Bermuda national team. His most recent game was a close, 2-1, loss to Mexico, where EPL striker Raul Jimenez (Wolves) scored a late winner. The team is currently in the qualification stages of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, a tournament Justin has seen before.

Bermuda won, 3-1, against the Dominican Republic to qualify for the 2019 tournament, and it was Donawa who scored the goal to seal that win;

https://www.facebook.com/DartmouthMensSoccer/posts/our-very-own-justin-donawa-rounded-out-the-scoring-for-bermuda-in-a-3-1-nations-/10157033663803396/

In the tournament itself, Justin played against Haiti and Costa Rica, a game which was played at Toyota Stadium, the home of MLS franchise FC Dallas.

Bo Oshoniyi, the Bobby Clark Head Coach of Men's Soccer at Dartmouth spoke of his pride in the achievements of Donawa and Ikoba, who played an important role for his team during their senior year. "It's nice to see our guys thriving on and off the field wherever they are, and to add professional players abroad to our alumni network only helps the next guy who is good enough to walk through that door. We're all about encouraging guys to reach their goals on or off the field, I'm confident that Justin and Eduvie are going to go even further in the pursuit of theirs."

With Donawa and Ikoba scoring goals in Europe, and alumni like Wyatt Omsberg '18 and Stefan Cleveland '15 currently playing in Major League Soccer. It continues to be proven that Dartmouth is a place where greatness can be pursued and developed, whether that be on the athletic fields, or in any career path.