Orlando Pride

2019 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Marisa Viggiano

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4 years ago

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Marisa Viggiano was drafted by the Orlando Pride in the fourth round (No. 30 overall) of the 2019 NWSL College Draft. The midfielder had a solid college career, making 17 or more appearances in all four seasons, and her 20 assists tied her for fifth most in Northwestern program history.

As we’ve noted before, NWSL drafted players often don’t get many minutes of playing time initially, but with it being a World Cup year, the opportunity was there for a player like Viggiano to make her mark.

So, how did the rookie do in her first year with the Pride?

Statistical Breakdown

Viggiano appeared in 19 games in 2019, starting 14 and playing 1,222 minutes. She started the season as a substitute for the first two matches but earned more starts as the season progressed. She took seven shots, with three on target, and scored once, with no assists. Viggiano connected on 336 of her 439 pass attempts for a 76.5% passing success rate. She made 22 total open play crosses, with three successful crosses, and 12 key passes.

Viggiano was offside nine times, conceded nine fouls while winning 13, and received one yellow card on the year. Defensively, she had nine clearances, two blocks, 11 interceptions, an 83,3% tackle success rate, a 43.9% duel success rate, and a 31.8% aerial duel success rate.

Best Game

It was not difficult to figure out Viggiano’s best game, as it had the first and only goal of her professional career so far. Viggiano’s goal led the Pride to a 1-0 victory over Sky Blue FC, in what was one of only two home wins on the season. Viggiano brought the ball down the left wing, cut into the outer corner of the box, and put home a golazo in the 23rd minute that was an NWSL Goal of the Week contender. Viggiano started the match, played 70 minutes, was offside once, and had one foul suffered.

2019 Final Grade

Viggiano received a unanimous rating of 4.5 for the season from The Mane Land staff. She started out pretty slow, but came on as the year went on, and earned herself more starts and playing time. Given it was her rookie year, a certain amount of on-the-job training is to be expected, and she did show growth throughout the season.

2020 Outlook

Viggiano is a young player who showed some potential, and a willingness to learn. That is exactly the type of technical player Marc Skinner is looking to build his system with, and I expect Viggiano to return next season. If she continues her development as a player and as a piece of the system Skinner is implementing, she can be a consistent contributor on a Pride team that should look pretty different next season.

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