Villacorta remaining with the Pride after rookie season cut short due to injury
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Pride has inked midfielder Viviana Villacorta through the 2024 season, it was announced today. Villacorta was selected by the Pride with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft and is coming off a strong rookie season in 2022.
“Viv has the potential to be one of the best players in our league and she showed that promise during her time on the field last year, so we are excited to keep her with the Pride for the next two seasons,” Head Coach Seb Hines said. “She made an essential impact when she was on the pitch and continued to improve as the season went on. Her injury was an unfortunate end to a strong rookie season, but she has been working as hard as she can to be able to be ready for 2023.”
“I’m so grateful to be able to play for this Club and community for two more years. We’re building for the future and I’m so happy to be a part of it,” Villacorta said. “I can’t wait to get back out on the field next year and to see all of our fans back at Exploria Stadium.”
The midfielder made her professional debut on May 1 in the Pride’s 2022 regular season opener. She would go on and appear in 15 games, making 13 starts and totaling 1,044 minutes played before suffering an ankle injury on August 26, which forced her to be placed on the Season Ending Injury list for the rest of the 2022 campaign.
A product out of UCLA, Villacorta missed the 2021 campaign after suffering an ACL tear during her final season in college. Up until the injury, Villacorta appeared in all 72 potential games for the Bruins with 60 starts and tallied seven goals to go along with 16 assists in her collegiate career.
TRANSACTION: Orlando Pride signs midfielder Viviana Villacorta to a two-year contract through the 2024 season.
