Craig Alexander Nitti (born January 19, 1992) is a retired American soccer player.

Career

College & Youth

Nitti played most of his youth soccer with the North Valley Fusion, an age group team in the Southern California Coast Soccer League. He competed for Crespi High School in Encino, CA where he was Mission League Defender of the Year, First Team All CIF Southern Section and NSCAA/adidas High School Boys All-Region VIII. In 2010, he competed on the BU18 Real SoCal Academy Team which took third in the National Championships at the Home Depot Center. Nitti played five years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

(LMU) between 2010 and 2014, including a red-shirted year in 2010. For his career at LMU, he made 59 starts, appeared in 70 total matches and logged 5720 minutes. The 6'5" 215 pound center back finished with 11 goals (4 game winners) and four assists. Among his honors: Mac Hermann Trophy Watch List 2014, two time NSCAA/Continental Tire All Far West Second Team, College Soccer Madness 4th Team All American and WCC Defender of the Year, three time ALL WCC (First Team 2013 and 2014), three time WCC All Academic Honorable Mention, three time Team Captain, LMU MVP/Most Valuable Defender/Most Inspirational/Goal of the Year 2014 and LMU Outstanding Male Scholar Athlete 2015.

Professional

On January 20, 2015, Nitti was selected 72nd overall in the

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held Janua ...

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

. On March 17, 2015, he signed with Vancouver's

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

side

Whitecaps FC 2 Whitecaps FC 2 is a professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. History Prior to the MLS Next Pro iteration the team played its h ...

. Nitti played 18 games with 15 starts and logged 1457 minutes. He was named to the USL Team of the Week 4/3/15 and appeared in 7 of the 8 Whitecaps season wins. After a season with Whitecaps 2, Nitti signed with USL's

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Osce ...

on January 13, 2016. He started 14 games logging 1243 minutes and scored one goal.

References

1992 births Living people American soccer players American expatriate soccer players Association football defenders Expatriate soccer players in Canada Loyola Marymount Lions men's soccer players Orlando City B players People from Calabasas, California People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles Portland Timbers U23s players Soccer players from Los Angeles USL Championship players USL League Two players Vancouver Whitecaps FC draft picks Whitecaps FC 2 players {{US-footy-defender-stub