Player Profile: Danny Vitiello, Goalkeeper

From the music capital where southern rock flows to the sunsets of the southwest on display, Danny Vitiello was New Mexico United for one night only.

By Chris Walker | Photo: Nashville SC

United alternate goalkeeper, Ben Beaury, fills an important role backing up Cody Mizell week-in and week-out. Beaury would be filling a primary role elsewhere.

Beaury would be missing the match to stand in his brother’s wedding as his Best Man. Congratulations to the Beaury family from us here at Seek & Strike Collective.

This past week, Beaury was shown how much of a value he is to Technical Director and Head Coach Troy Lesesne. Lesesne hand-picked a top prospect goalkeeper to be the best man to fill Beaury’s role.

New Mexico United picked up goalkeeper Danny Vitiello on a one-game loan from Nashville SC. Vitiello signed on with Nashville SC on January 8, 2019.

Vitiello, a graduate of University of Albany, has not made an appearance for Nashville SC.

While at Albany, Vitiello was the Great Danes primary goalkeeper. He made 60 appearances and played more than 5,000 minutes. His career record of 31-23-6 makes him the winningest goalkeeper in program history.

He had a 0.98 goals against average along with a .784 save percentage over the span of his career. He closed out his four-year stint with 24 clean sheets.

Nashville SC Head Coach, Gary Smith, spoke to SleterFC.com on Vitiello’s prospect status earlier this year stating, “Danny impressed whilst training during the summer and then reinforced his credentials in our invite-only tryouts in December,” said Smith.

“He fits the criteria for our club perfectly both physically & technically, whilst showing all the desire you would expect from a young player.”

Nashville SC, founded in 2016, played its debut season in the United Soccer League in 2018, going 12-9-13 to finish eighth in the Eastern Conference. The club was eliminated from playoff contention in the conference quarterfinals.

Nashville SC defeated Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1 this past weekend to slide into second place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 15 wins, 6 losses, and 6 draws. They are trailing New York Red Bull’s II by two points.

Vitiello has yet to break into USL Championship’s 2019 statistical records, but it’s important to note that he is highly regarded by Lesesne.

United lost 2-0 to Orange County SC and Mizell played the full 90 minutes.