Viviana Villacorta

Viviana Venezia Villacorta (born February 2, 1999) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

Viviana Villacorta
Personal information
Full name Viviana Venezia Villacorta[1]
Date of birth (1999-02-02) February 2, 1999
Place of birth Torrance, California, United States
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Orlando Pride
Number 14
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2021 UCLA Bruins 72 (7)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Santa Clarita Blue Heat
2021– Orlando Pride 31 (0)
International career‡
2016 United States U18
2017 United States U19
2017–2018 United States U20 17 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 15, 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of August 13, 2018

Early life

Born in Torrance, California, Villacorta played four years of soccer at Mira Costa High School and earned Bay League first-team honors three times. She won the USYS National Championships in 2015 and 2016 with Cal South ODP teams.[1] Villacorta played four years of club soccer with United Women's Soccer team Santa Clarita Blue Heat, winning the National Championship title in the inaugural 2016 season as well as back to back West conference titles.[2][3]

UCLA Bruins

Villacorta played four seasons of college soccer at University of California, Los Angeles between 2017 and 2021 while also earning a degree in sociology. As a freshman she played in all 25 games including 15 starts.[1] The team finished second in the Pac-12 conference behind Stanford and qualified for the postseason, reaching the final of the 2017 College Cup before again losing out to their conference rivals.[4] In 2018, Villacorta played in all 22 games, starting all but the season opener, and earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors.[1] She scored four goals in total with her first collegiate career goal coming away at Stanford in a 3–2 defeat.[5] UCLA again finished second in conference play and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by North Carolina in a penalty shootout.[6] In 2019, Villacorta was an ever-present, starting in all 24 games. She scored three goals as well as a career-high eight assists, earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors for a second consecutive season as UCLA again finished second behind Stanford and reached the semifinals of the postseason, losing 4–1 to Stanford.[1][7] Villacorta elected to delay her pro career and return in 2021 to contest her senior season despite being drafted in January following the NCAA's offer of a waiver in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that meant draftees were able to remain in college to contest the rescheduled college spring season.[8][9][10] Having never missed a game for UCLA since joining as a freshman in 2017, Villacorta suffered an ACL tear 18 minutes into the opening game against Pepperdine on February 7, ending her collegiate career prematurely.[11]

Club career

Orlando Pride

On January 13, 2021, Villacorta was selected in the first round (9th overall) of the 2021 NWSL Draft by Orlando Pride and had originally planned to join the team following the delayed college spring season.[12][10] After suffering an ACL tear during a college game in February,[11] Villacorta signed a one-year plus option year contract with Orlando on August 6, 2021, and immediately placed on the season-ending injury list.[13] She did not feature during the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup but was named as a substitute in a matchday squad for the first time in the final game on April 23, 2022. She made her professional debut in the next game, as a 72nd-minute substitute in the team's regular season opener, a 3–0 defeat to NJ/NY Gotham FC.

International career

As well as the United States, Villacorta is eligible to represent Peru and El Salvador internationally through her parents.[14]

She has represented the United States at under-18, under-19 and under-20 level.[15] In January 2018, Villacorta was named to the squad for the 2018 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, making four appearances as the United States finished as runners-up to Mexico.[16] In August she was part of the squad at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup held in France, starting all three group stage games as the team failed to progress after finishing third behind Spain and Japan.[17] In 2019, Villacorta was selected to represent the United States at the 2019 Summer Universiade.[18]

Personal life

Villacorta's father, Julio, won a state championship with El Camino College's soccer team. She has two older sisters, Vanessa and Veronica, who both played college soccer at UC Merced.[1][19]

Career statistics

College summary
Team Season Pac-12 regular season NCAA Tournament Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
UCLA Bruins 2017 Div. I 19060250
2018 18341224
2019 19251243
2020–21 10—10
Total 575152727

Club summary
As of October 15, 2023.[20]
Club Season League Cup Playoffs Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Orlando Pride 2021 NWSL 0000—00
2022 15000—150
2023 16050—210
Career total 3105000360

Honors

College

Club

Santa Clarita Blue Heat

References
  1. "Viviana Villacorta - Women's Soccer". UCLA.
  2. "2021 NWSL Draft Update". United Women's Soccer. 14 January 2021.
  3. "Santa Clarita Blue Heat Crowned 2016 UWS Champion". SCVNews.com. 2 August 2016.
  4. "2017 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship: Stanford victorious over UCLA in high-scoring affair". pac-12.com.
  5. "Top-Ranked Stanford Bests No. 16 UCLA, 3-2". UCLA. 27 September 2018.
  6. "Tar Heels Advance To College Cup With Shootout Win Over Bruins". University of North Carolina Athletics. 24 November 2018.
  7. "Smith Powers Semifinal Rout". Stanford University Athletics.
  8. "Pac-12 Conference postpones soccer season through end of 2020". SoccerWire.
  9. "NCAA DI Council approves moving fall championships to the spring". www.ncaa.com.
  10. "Orlando Pride Announces 2021 Preseason Opening Day Roster". www.orlandocitysc.com.
  11. Poe, Julia (14 February 2021). "Orlando Pride top draft pick Viviana Villacorta tears ACL". orlandosentinel.com.
  12. Poe, Julia (14 January 2021). "Orlando Pride reinforce midfield, attack with 2021 NWSL draft selections". orlandosentinel.com.
  13. "Orlando Pride Signs 2021 Draft Pick Viviana Villacorta". www.orlandocitysc.com.
  14. "Viviana Villacorta, la salvadoreña que busca brillar en la NWSL". Deporte Total USA. January 23, 2021.
  15. "Viviana Villacorta joins the U-19 and U-20 teams". LaVista MiraCosta.
  16. "Five Things to Know About the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship". www.ussoccer.com.
  17. "Two UCLA women's soccer players added to US U-20 World Cup roster". Daily Bruin.
  18. "Women's Soccer Team to Represent USA at World University Games". UCLA. 27 June 2019.
  19. "UC Merced Women's Soccer Signs Nine". California Pacific Conference.
  20. "Viviana Villacorta - Soccerway". soccerway.com.
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