ORLANDO – UCF men's soccer forward Gino Vivi has been selected by the L.A. Galaxy with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. Vivi is now the fifth first-round pick to be selected in the MLS drafting process.
"We are so excited for Gino," said head coach Scott Calabrese. "He came to UCF four years ago and has worked relentlessly to become the player and person he is today. He is an exceptional player and amazing teammate and made big contributions to our success over the last four seasons."
Vivi's senior season saw him climb into a tie of tenth place on UCF's all-time scoring list, tallying 19 goals and 23 assists for 61 points. He worked his way up to a tie of fifth on the Knights' career assists chart.
Vivi will go down as one of the Black and Gold's most prolific scorers, becoming the second player under Coach Calabrese to finish their career in the top 10 of UCF's all-time scoring list. Vivi joins Cal Jennings as the second player to accomplish the feat since 2017. Jennings totaled 107 points over his four years as a Knight, scoring 46 goals with 15 assists.
Vivi joins Jennings as the second player under Coach Calabrese to be selected in the first round of the MLS Superdraft. Jennings went 17th overall to FC Dallas in 2020. In total, five players have been selected in the MLS SuperDraft during Calabrese's tenure. Jennings and Jonathan Dean were the first to be drafted during Calabrese's time as head coach, with Dean going in the second round with the 39th overall pick. 2022 saw Nick Taylor and Yanis Leerman selected in the third and fourth rounds respectively.
As the fifth first round selection in program history, Vivi joins Romario Williams (3rd overall, 2015), Deshorn Brown (6th overall, 2012) Hadji Barry (13th overall, 2016) and Jennings (17th overall, 2020) as fellow first rounders.