Matt Luzunaris (born March 6, 1989) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. During the 2000s and 2010s he played for clubs in Austria and the United States.

Career

Youth and college

Luzunaris was born on 6 March 1989 in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

. He attended West Boca Raton High School and played youth club soccer for BRJSC - Boca Raton Juniors SC, St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri, and in the Olympic Development Program. Luzunaris had a brief stint training with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

in England, before attending and playing one year of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

. Luzunaris was a member of the Boca Juniors team that won the FYSA State Cup in 2003.

Europe

Luzunaris turned professional after his freshman college year, and began his professional career by signing with

SC Schwanenstadt SC Schwanenstadt was an Austrian football club from Schwanenstadt, Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as wel ...

in February 2008. After Schwanenstadt reorganized he re-signed with the club under the Magna Wiener Neustadt moniker. In early 2009 he was loaned to Brazilian club Botofogo, but was unable to play for the club due to visa restrictions in Brazil; he returned to Wiener Neustadt in June. He was then signed in July by

SK Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English language, English, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian cham ...

to a three-year contract, where he played for the second team.

United States

On March 25, 2011, Luzunaris was signed by the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, and he made his debut for the team on April 9 in a 1–1 tie with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

. In July 2011, the Earthquakes loaned Luzunaris to Orlando City for an unspecified length but with the right to recall. Luzunaris scored goals in his first two games playing for City against Rochester Luzunaris and San Jose parted ways after the 2011 season and signed with Orlando City on December 5, 2011. Luzunaris appeared in 18 matches for the Lions scoring 9 goals and becoming the team's second leading goal scorer and USL PRO's 3rd leading goal scorer in the league. He also made USL PRO's team of the year. Luzunaris announced his retirement on January 13, 2015.

Personal life

Luzunaris was engaged to Austen Everett (1986–2012), herself a college soccer player for

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. She died after a lengthy battle with

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredn ...

on August 14, 2012. Luzunaris and Everett founded a foundation, the Austen Everett Foundation, to connect children challenged by life-threatening illnesses and professional, intercollegiate teams and athletes. Luzunaris married Sara Luzunaris (née Deisinger) on September 3, 2016. They live in Williamson, New York with their four-year-old son and a menagerie of pets.

References

External links

Player Bio
at University of Central Florida Knights official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Luzunaris, Matt 1989 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players UCF Knights men's soccer players SV Wienerberg players Botafogo FR players SC Schwanenstadt players SK Rapid Wien players San Jose Earthquakes players Orlando City SC (2010–2014) players North Carolina FC players Rochester Rhinos players Soccer players from Florida Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Major League Soccer players USL Championship players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players People from Margate, Florida Men's association football forwards