This morning the Hounds announced the signing of forward Joseph Ngwenya. Formerly a Richmond Kicker he was one of the USL’s top players last season, as well as one of the MVP candidates Angulo beat for the title. For those of you not familiar with Ngwenya let’s take a quick look at his professional career.

Ngwenya is a 32 year old forward from Zimbabwe with a lot of MLS experience. At 6’1” he’ll be one of the, if not the, tallest player on the Hounds and a big target for Dallman’s crosses. Ngwenya played in the MLS from 2004-2007, and from 2010-2011. In the years between his two MLS stints he bounced around Europe some and even trained with Bayern Munich’s first team for a while. His career stats in the MLS are: 118 Games Played, 75 Games Started, 17 Goals, 8 Assists, 116 Shots, 59 Shots on Goal, 6594 Minutes played (56 Min/Game AVG), 11 Yellow cards, 4 Red cards. His best statistical season was in 2007 with the Houston Dynamo playing (and starting) in 25 games averaging about 78 minutes a game. That season he put up 7 goals, 3 assists, and put 21 shots on goal out of 35 shots. 2007 was also the year the Houston Dynamo won the MLS cup, with Ngwenya scoring the game tying goal in the cup finals. He was also part of the 2005 LA Galaxy MLS Cup championship team; however he did not play in the finals. Ngwenya also played for the Zimbabwe national team during World Cup qualifying in 2008.

Ngwenya played for the Richmond Kickers last season, and as mentioned before was a league MVP candidate. He had 23 points in 20 games, playing an average of 67 minutes. He was the lead goal scorer for Richmond with 9 goals, and also had 5 assists.  

Ngwenya played a big role in Richmond’s success last season, and with his time in the MLS, and on MLS championship teams, he’s bringing a lot of veteran experience to the Hounds. The Hounds are amassing quite a bit of firepower up front, and with a couple key defensive signings, they’re going to be the scariest team in the USL next year.  Tuffy said he wants championships, and he’s not messing around.

#UNLEASH