No. 88 draft pick defender Nicholas Cavallo to join New York City Football Club
Graduate student defender Nicholas Cavallo is featured running and scanning the field at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The defender earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors and notched one goal and two assists in 2024. (Aidan Sun/Assistant Photo editor)
By Connor Dullinger
Dec. 20, 2024 3:14 p.m.
UCLA men’s soccer graduate student defender Nicholas Cavallo was drafted in the third round as the 88th overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft by the New York City Football Club.
Cavallo spent 2024 in Westwood, where he started in all of UCLA’s contests, notching one goal and two assists while playing primarily as an outside back. Cavallo scored his lone goal against Rutgers in a 3-0 victory, and both of his assists came against Maryland – the first in a 1-1 draw during the regular season and the second in a 6-0 victory over the Terrapins in the Big Ten quarterfinals.
The All-Big Ten Second Team selection served as a reliable mainstay on the back line, playing the full 90 minutes in 15 of the Bruins’ 19 affairs and ranking first on the team with 1,640 minutes played. Apart from being an attacking threat, Cavallo also served as a stalwart in a Bruin defense that recorded seven clean sheets – five of them against ranked opponents – last season.
Cavallo spent his first four collegiate seasons playing for Davidson, where he made 57 starts in 59 appearances. The defender notched a team-leading five assists in his sophomore season and eight total assists in his Davidson career.
In his senior campaign, the Richmond, Virginia, local was selected as one of the team’s three captains and helped spearhead a defense that ranked in the top 10 in average goals against for the majority of 2023. The same back line conceded the second fewest goals in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Cavallo will now join a NYCFC club that ranked sixth in the MLS’ Eastern Conference in 2024, tallying 14 wins, eight ties and 12 losses. The team concluded its 2024 campaign with a 2-0 defeat by the New York City Red Bulls in the conference semifinals of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The rookie will be joining a five-person 2024 NYCFC draft class that features Vermont forward Max Murray – who played a program-leading 91 matches and helped lead the Catamounts to their first-ever national championship – Northwestern midfielder Collin McCamy, Virginia forward AJ Smith and Oregon State midfielder Arnau Farnos.
