The Red Bulls made four selections in Tuesday’s MLS SuperDraft.
They selected U.S. Naval Academy centerback Matt Nocita with the seventh overall pick and concluded the first round with selection of Florida Gulf Coast University forward O’Vonte Mullings with the 20th overall pick.
New York concluded the draft with two picks in the third round, drafting Georgetown University goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis 71st overall (third round, 15th pick) and Penn State University midfielder Seth Kuhn 73rd overall (third round, 17th pick).
The team moved up from the 15th pick to the seventh pick via two trades. New York first traded its 15th overall pick and $100,000 in 2022 General Allocation Money to Montreal for the 11th overall pick. The Red Bulls then swapped the 11th overall pick and $100,000 of 2022 GAM for Chicago’s seventh overall pick.
New York wrapped up the first round by trading their 43rd overall pick (third round, 15th pick) and $75,000 in 2022 GAM for Seattle’s 20th overall pick in the draft.
Nocita finished his collegiate career as one of the most decorated players in Navy men’s soccer history. The Porter Ranch, Calif. native was a three-time Patriot League defensive player of the year, 2021 ECAC defensive player of the year and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American. Nocita missed one game in four seasons, compiling 59 starts, 5,389 minutes, six goals and two assists. He helped anchor a backline that recorded 24 clean sheets in 59 matches at Navy.
Mullings completed four seasons at Florida Gulf Coast, which was highlighted by being named a three-time ASUN Conference first team, 2018 ASUN Conference freshman of the year and 2021 ASUN conference player of the ear. He accrued 28 goals and seven assists in 57 games played over 4,697 minutes.
Nikopolidis was Georgetown’s four-year starter at goalkeeper and was a United Soccer Coaches first team All-America honoree in 2020 and was the two-time Big Easts goalkeeper of the year as well as a three-time All-Big Eastt selection. At Georgetown, he started 56 games and posted a 0.69 goals-against average as well as a 0.800 save percentage. Nikopolidis went 39-10-3 in the net with 156 saves, helping the Hoyas advance to four NCAA Division I Tournaments, three-consecutive quarterfinals, two College Cups and the 2019 NCAA Championship.
Kuhn spent his final three collegiate seasons at Penn State, recording eight goals and 17 assists in 53 matches. He earned second-team All-Big Ten and United Soccer Coaches second team All-North Region honors while being named a United Soccer Coaches second team Scholar All-American during his junior season. Kuhn also played one season at Duke University, registering two assists in 18 matches.
