Devin Boyce? Noice!

We apologize for the headline. It was either that or "The Boyce are back in town"

Forward Madison FC just announced its second new signing for the 2024 season: USL League One veteran Devin Boyce, a 27-year-old midfielder from Missouri, pending league and federation approval. 

Boyce played in 29 games for Greenville Triumph SC in 2023, with 23 starts, one goal – a penalty against Omaha – and three assists. He joined the Triumph after a year with Memphis 901 in USL Championship. He’s perhaps best known to Madison fans as one of the OG Owls of Union Omaha, where he scored five goals over two seasons, including the 2021 Goal of the Year in the league semifinal against Tucson.

“We are happy to add Devin to our 2024 roster,” Head Coach Matt Glaeser said in a press release. “He has proven himself to be a solid contributor on winning teams in our league and has USL Championship experience. His quality, work rate, versatility, and competitiveness are attributes that make him a good fit for our team.” 

The 5’10” midfielder began his collegiate career at the University of New Mexico. He appeared in 39 matches before returning home to play at Saint Louis University. In two years, Boyce started in 32 matches, scored nine goals, and made seven assists. In his junior year, he was named First Team All-Conference and USC NCAA DI Second-Team All-Southeast Region, and in his senior year, he was named Second Team All-Conference. 

In 2020, Boyce joined Union Omaha in their inaugural season, eventually becoming their all-time club leader in appearances and assists. The midfielder helped lead Omaha to the 2021 League One title with 29 appearances, five goals, nine assists, and over 2,200 minutes logged. In 2022, Boyce joined Memphis 901 FC in the USL Championship before returning to USL League One to play for Greenville Triumph during the 2023 season. 

This signing is the strongest signal yet that Chelo Martinez is unlikely to return. Boyce played a deeper holding role with Greenville than he did with Omaha, and that Omaha team was just far better than the 2023 version of Greenville, so Boyce’s stats peaked in 2021. Still, I’d expect Boyce to fill in the role of creator in Glaeser’s possession-oriented offense. His passing accuracy has been on the low side – sub-80 percent – but he creates a lot of chances. It’ll be interesting to see how he teams up with Aiden Mesias in the middle. He could also provide depth at the wingback and attacking midfield roles.

Coming soon: Cherif!

Watch your podcast feeds in the next couple days – we’ll have an exclusive interview with the other newest Mingo, Cherif Dieye!