Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | November 16, 1961 | ||
Place of birth | North Plainfield, New Jersey, United States | ||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
Playing position | Defender | ||
Youth career | |||
1978–1981 | Penn State | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1982 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 29 | (2) |
1983 | Team America | 30 | (5) |
1984 | New York Cosmos | 14 | (0) |
1984–1985 | New York Cosmos (indoor) | 27 | (9) |
1985 | Chicago Sting (indoor) | 19 | (2) |
1985–1987 | Minnesota Strikers (indoor) | 44 | (5) |
Total | 163 | (23) | |
National team | |||
1983–1985 | United States | 9 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Dan Canter is a retired U.S. soccer defender. He played three seasons in the North American Soccer League and three in Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned twenty-nine caps with the U.S. national team, scoring two goals, between 1983 and 1985.
Born in North Plainfield, New Jersey, Canter was raised in Chatham Township, New Jersey.
Canter attended Penn State where he played as a sweeper on the men’s soccer team from 1978 to 1981. In 1981, he earned first team All American honors.
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the North American Soccer League drafted Canter in the 1982 NASL College Draft. He quickly won a starting job on the Strikers first team, playing twenty-nine games and scoring twice. In 1983, the U.S. Soccer Federation, in coordination with the NASL, entered the U.S. national team, known as Team America, into the NASL as a league franchise. The team drew on U.S. citizens playing in the NASL, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Soccer League. In January 1983, Canter left the Strikers and signed with Team America. When Team America finished the 1983 season with a 10-20 record, the worst in the NASL, USSF withdrew the team from the league. Canter returned to the Strikers in time for the 1983-1984 NASL indoor season. The Strikers which were in the process of relocating from Fort Lauderdale to Minnesota, did not play in that season. Therefore, the Strikers loaned Canter to the New York Cosmos. On February 28, 1984, the Strikers traded Canter to the Cosmos in exchange for Mike Jeffries, a 1985 first round draft pick and cash. That year Canter was an NASL All Star honorable mention (third team). The NASL collapsed after the 1984 outdoor season and several of the league’s teams, including the Cosmos, moved to MISL for the 1984-1985 season. Canter began the season with the Cosmos, but financial difficulties led the Cosmos to trade him to the Chicago Sting in exchange for Robert Meschbach and cash in February 1985. On November 15, 1985, the Sting traded Canter to the Minnesota Strikers in exchange for Ben Collins and two draft picks.