The Tacoma Defiance announced on Wednesday that they had re-signed centerback Antino Lopez to a new contract and exercised the contract options on four other players to bring their total roster to nine ahead of the 2026 season. This will be Lopez’s third season with the Defiance.
Defenders Demian Alvarez and Charlie Gaffney and midfielders Peter Kingston and Danny Robles had their options exercised, joining Charles Dodzi, Sebastian Gomez, Omar Hassan and Mohammed Shour, who were already under contract.
Ryan Baer, Birame Diaw and Rafferty Pedder had their options declined, while Elias Katsaros, Jackson Khoury and Yu Tsukanome are all out of contract. Additionally, Kaito Yamada will return to Vissel Kobe after his loan expired. Tsukanome, who scored 21 goals across all competitions last year to set an organization record, remains in talks but presumably would only return if he was signed to a first-team contract.
CURRENT TACOMA DEFIANCE ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (1): Mohammed Shour
DEFENDERS (2): Demian Alvarez, Antino Lopez
MIDFIELDERS (6): Charles Dodzi, Charlie Gaffney, Sebastian Gomez, Omar Hassan, Peter Kingston, Danny Robles
