Wisconsin Soccer Central

James "C" Nortey (Marquette) made his professional debut Saturday, coming on for the final 29 minutes of Akademisk Boldklub's 1-0 loss to visiting Frem in a Danish 2nd Division match in Søborg.

The striker, a native of Accra, Ghana, spent five weeks training with AB before signing with the club last week. AB has two games left in its season in the third-tier league and has clinched promotion to the 1st Division for the 2016-17 season. The country's top league is the Superliga.

Nortey wrapped up his college career last fall, having recorded 30 goals and nine assists in 74 appearances (69 starts) with the Golden Eagles. The 24-year-old was invited to the Major League Soccer Combine and took part in the event, but wasn't selected in the subsequent MLS SuperDraft. He had a trial with USL club Arizona United in February.

"Even though it took some time, I knew he would eventually be a professional soccer player as well as a graduate of Marquette University. I'm so proud," Golden Eagles coach Louis Bennett said in a news release. "He's a hard worker and after what he was able to do at Marquette, it's hugely important for him to get where he needs to go."

The Danish 2nd Division is split into three eight-team leagues, with the top four finishers in each of the groups after 14 matches earning spots in the promotion round. AB went 7-5-2 and finished fourth in Group 1, and has clinched the title in the 12-team promotion round with a 10-2-2 record.

On Twitter: @cicinho17

• Ethan Finlay (Marshfield) had two assists, but the Columbus Crew dropped a 3-2 decision to the streaking Philadelphia Union in a Major League Soccer match last Wednesday night in Chester, Pa. (Watch highlights below) Finlay set up Ola Kamara's volley in the 14th minute that opened the scoring and rookie Cristian Martínez's stoppage-time header for the Crew (3-5-5), who saw the Eastern Conference-leading Union (6-3-5) extend their unbeaten streak to eight. Finlay is tied for 10th in MLS with four assists on the season. On Twitter: @EthanFinlay13

• Genevieve Richard (UW) and Nojima Stella Kanagawa Sagamihara head into the summer break leading Japan's Nadeshiko League Division 2. But despite an 11-0-1 record and a 35-2 goal differential, Nojima Stella holds just a four-point advantage over Elfen Saitama (9-0-3). Richard has a 0.22 goals-against average in her nine appearances for Nojima Stella, which resumes league play Sept. 9.
• Kyle Greig (Stevens Point) is second in USL with nine goals in 11 appearances for Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (6-1-4), who are second in the 15-team Western Conference standings.