Gino Vivi is LA Galaxy's First Round Pick
Former Knight Gino Vivi is set to start his professional soccer career with the Los Angeles Galaxy as the team selected him 23rd overall in the MLS SuperDraft on Wednesday.
The forward became the fifth first-round pick in program history, joining Deshorn Brown (sixth overall in 2012), Romario Williams (third in 2015), Hadji Barry (13th in 2016) and Cal Jennings (17th in 2020).
A Costa Rica native, Vivi played four seasons at UCF. In the 2020-21, he helped the team win the American Athletic Conference tournament, the only in Knights’ history and the first conference title since the Black and Gold took home the Atlantic Sun trophy in 2004.
Following the end of the 2022 season, Vivi is tied for 10th place on UCF’s career points list with 61, scoring 19 goals and assisting 23. His 23 assists puts him in the top five on UCF’s all-time assists leader board. He was named to All-Conference Teams in three opportunities, including first team in 2020-21.
If the forward makes the regular season roster, he will join New York City FC’s Sean Johnson as Knights active on MLS squads. The goalkeeper was recently in Qatar with the United States’ Men’s National Team as a backup in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first UCF Men’s Soccer alumnus to be selected for the tournament.
The 2023 MLS season kicks off on Feb. 25 with Vivi’s LA Galaxy facing the reigning MLS champions Los Angeles FC.
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