Matthew Pacifici (born August 31, 1993) is an American former professional

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 who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Youth and college career

High school

Pacifici was a varsity soccer player at Charlotte Catholic High School for four years, where he compiled a 46-4-4 record during his high school career, including 36 shutouts. His final year, he captained the team and led the nation with 21 shutouts including 16 consecutive. Pacifici was part of a 3-A State Championship team in 2008.

College

Wake Forest

Pacifici spent his first year of college at Wake Forest, where he earned a medical redshirt after injuries prevented him from playing during his freshman season.

Davidson

Pacifici transferred to

Davidson College Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...

beginning with the 2012 season, where he played in 70 games over the course of his career, going 28–31–10. His career goals against average was 1.45. He was named 2nd team All-Conference in 2014 while recording a 0.65 goals against average and seven shutouts. He was a two-year team captain.

Club career

After graduating from Davidson, Pacifici went undrafted but was invited to training camp with the Columbus Crew. During the preseason, he held

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

and

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

scoreless. The Crew signed Pacifici to a contract in March 2016. A concussion placed Pacifici on the season ending injury list in July. He was forced to retire after developing

postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a condition characterized by an abnormally large increase in heart rate upon sitting up or standing. POTS is a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that can lead to a variety of symptoms, ...

following the concussion.

Personal life

Pacifici became the fifth openly gay current or former Major League Soccer player when he came out on Instagram in January 2019.

References

External links

Columbus Crew Profile

Davidson Wildcats Profile

MLS Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacifici, Matt 1993 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Columbus Crew players Davidson Wildcats men's soccer players American gay sportsmen American LGBTQ soccer players LGBTQ people from North Carolina Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer players Soccer players from Charlotte, North Carolina 21st-century American sportsmen