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MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Add Homegrown Players Zavier Gozo & Luca Moisa to MLS Roster

February 20, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake have added two Homegrown players to its 2024 Major League Soccer roster, as RSL Academy products FW Zavier Gozo and MF Luca Moisa become the 37th and 38th Homegrowns in Club history. Each player is signed through the 2027 season, with team options for 2028/29 on Gozo and the 2028 season for Moisa.

RSL kicks off its 20th MLS season on Wednesday at DRV PNK Stadium in South Florida against Inter Miami CF at 6:00 p.m. MT on Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass.

With the Homegrown designation, RSL now boasts 14 on the roster, with Gozo and Moisa joining current RSL Homegrowns Gavin Beavers, Andrew Brody, Justen Glad, Zack Farnsworth, Bode Hidalgo, Erik Holt, Axel Kei, Diego Luna, Jaziel Orozco, Delentz Pierre, Luis Rivera and Jude Wellings. Of this group, only Luna did not attend the RSL Academy in Herriman or Casa Grande, Ariz., while two players - Orozco (Larne FC, No. Ireland) and Pierre (Colo. Springs, USL) - are currently on loans to facilitate their unique professional development pathways.

Gozo - a native of Eagle Mountain, Utah - made his RSL debut at 16 years, 206 days on October 14, 2023 at LA Galaxy as the third-youngest debutant in RSL's 19-year history, joining fellow Academy product Axel Kei for the final six minutes plus stoppage of a late-season 2-2 draw in Carson, Calif. Kei's debut at 15 years, 289 days made him the fourth-youngest to appear in MLS history, and the youngest in RSL's 19 years, eclipsing DF Nik Besagno's 2005 appearance at 16 years, 201 days. Gozo - who turns 17 years of age on March 22 of this year - was just five days older than Besagno.

"Since joining our Academy, Zavier has proven to be an all-around athletic talent with an exceptional eye for goal and an insatiable hunger to succeed," said Assistant General Manager Tony Beltran. "As he takes this next step in his professional career, we look forward to supporting his continued development with RSL and Real Monarchs."

"In his player pathway, Luca has excelled in all aspirational areas and developed into an exciting two-way midfielder," continued Beltran. "Our staff believes he has a bright professional future, and we look forward to his growth and matriculation, on and off the field."

TRANSACTION: Real Salt Lake signs FW Zavier Gozo and MF Luca Moisa as MLS Homegrown players on February 20, 2024

Player Information

Name: Zavier Gozo

Position: Forward

Height: 5'11"

Date of Birth: 22 March 2007

Age: 16

Birthplace: West Valley City, UT

Hometown: Eagle Mountain, UT

Citizenship: USA

Last Club: Real Monarchs (MLS NEXT Pro)

How Acquired: Signed on February 20, 2024

Player Information

Name: Luca Moisa

Position: Midfielder

Height: 5'8"

Date of Birth: 20 April 2008

Age: 15

Birthplace: Las Vegas, Nevada

Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada

Citizenship: United States

Last Club: Real Monarchs (MLS NEXT Pro)

How Acquired: Signed on February 20, 2024

ABOUT ZAVIER GOZO:

The young forward scored one goal for Real Monarchs in 2023, playing 10 games (starting seven) in his first professional season, one marred by injury early in the year. Gozo eloquently describes his first season with the Monarchs, as well as his path to RSL HERE: https://www.rsl.com/news/in-my-own-words-zavier-gozo-presented-by-adidas

Gozo joined the Real Salt Lake organization as a member of the Academy in the fall of 2021. In his first season with the RSL Academy, Gozo established himself as a prolific goalscorer, leading the team with 16 goals in the regular season, while scoring multiple goals at both the Generation Adidas Cup and MLS NEXT Cup tournaments. Gozo's eye for goal led the U-15 RSL Academy team to its second-consecutive MLS NEXT Cup Final, and despite not winning the championship, he was awarded the tournament's Golden Boot Award in recognition of his five goals, the most by a single individual at the U-15 level.

In his second season in the RSL Academy, Gozo was elevated to the U-17 squad, once again leading the way, netting 10 goals in 10 games while also contributing one assist. Gozo's 10 goals accounted for nearly half of the team's goals that season.

His performances with the Claret-and-Cobalt have earned Gozo numerous roster invitations to numerous United States Youth National Teams. In late 2022, Gozo was selected to travel with the Red, White and Blue for a U-16 tournament in Spain, during which he scored a goal against Wales and netted the game winner in the final match against England.

ABOUT LUCA MOISA:

Moisa made his professional debut in 2023 with the MLS NEXT Pro Real Monarchs side, appearing twice off the bench in September matches against Tacoma Defiance and Portland Timbers 2. Moisa also helped the U.S. U15s win the CONCACAF Youth Championship alongside fellow Academy standouts Omar Marquez and Juan Gio Villa - who each just signed Monarchs deals this offseason - and GK Will Mackay.

Just over a year ago, in December, 2022, Moisa became the youngest player to ever sign directly with MLS NEXT Pro's Real Monarchs, at just 14 years, 7 months and 26 days old. Moisa's signing to a professional deal made him the second-youngest signing in Club history, behind now-fellow RSL Homegrown Axel Kei, who was 14 years and 15 days when he inked his Claret-and-Cobalt deal in January, 2022.

Moisa first joined the RSL Academy in the fall of 2021 as one of the youngest on the U-15 roster, playing up an age group. After a quiet first semester Moisa broke out, cementing a place in Andrew May's starting lineup. As the lynchpin of the midfield, Moisa helped that year's U-15 squad earn a quarterfinal berth at the Generation Adidas Cup in April of 2022, and a second-consecutive appearance in the MLS NEXT Cup Final, as well as two undefeated runs through MLS NEXT Flex and MLS NEXT Fest. During the 2022 MLS NEXT Cup, Moisa recorded two assists, including one on the game-winning goal in the quarterfinal match against Chicago Fire.

The 2022 season saw Moisa lead the U-15 squad as the captain, helping the team earn an 8-1-1 record through the first 10 games, going undefeated since September 11, 2022. In those matches Moisa has recorded one goal and two assists, contributing to four clean sheets with the team outscoring their opponents 22-7. During the preseason Moisa traveled with the U-15 team to Germany, where he started in five of the team's eight matches against clubs from across Europe.

At the international level, Moisa recently earned his first call-up to the U-15 United States Youth National Team, for a training camp in Kansas City, Kansas, alongside three of his Academy and eventual Monarchs teammates, Omar Marquez, Axel Uriostegui and Juan Gio Villa.

Real Salt Lake kicks off the Club's 20th MLS season TOMORROW - this Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, when Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni leads his team to South Florida, where RSL faces Inter Miami CF at DRV PNK Stadium. Kickoff is at 6:00 p.m. MT, with the game broadcast worldwide via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, as RSL looks to extend its MLS Opening Day unbeaten run to 15 games, last losing its first match in 2009 - incidentally, the year RSL won MLS Cup.

The 2023 RSL side amassed the Club's seventh 50-point season all-time, and just the second since the 2014 campaign. Finishing 11th overall out of 29 teams, RSL crashed out of the postseason by the thinnest of margins for a second consecutive year (Austin 2022, Houston 2023), dropping a road shootout tiebreaker in Texas. Other 2023 RSL milestones:

Accumulated an all-time Club-best road record with 12 results in 17 away MLS matches, posting an 8W-5L-4T mark with 28 of its 50 reg. season points amassed on the road; RSL's previous road bests were recorded in 2012 and 2013, with identical 6W-7L-4T marks;

RSL's home mark of 6W-7L-4T was its worst since 2007, when a 4W-7L-4T record on the Rice-Eccles turf marked the 19-year nadir;

During a nearly four-month span from mid-April to early August, RSL dropped just three of 24 games across all competitions, including MLS reg. season action, its Open Cup run to the Semifinals and its initial Leagues Cup foray;

Thirty-two (32) different players saw action for RSL in 2023, including 15-year-old FW Axel Kei and 16-year-old Zavier Gozo making their Homegrown debuts, along with Academy products GK Gavin Beavers and DF Delentz Pierre also making their first-ever first-team appearances; a trio of rookies - D/M Emeka Eneli, FW Bertin Jacquesson and FW Ilijah Paul - made their professional debuts, while FW Andrés Gómez, MF Nelson Palacio, DF Kevon Lambert and DF Brayan Vera notched their first-ever MLS appearances last season;

Since April 16, 2005, RSL has enjoyed a prominent home-field advantage on Utah soil - posting a dominant 194-83-95 (Win-Loss-Draw) record across all competitions at home (1.82 points per game for a 0.649 win pct.) - since arriving on the Wasatch Front nearly 20 years ago;

Since opening its permanent home in Sandy just over 15 years ago, in October, 2008, RSL's 164-58-75 (W-L-T) MLS reg. season mark at America First Field - home of the "RioT" Supporters Group umbrella - equates to a 1.91 points per game average and a 0.679 win pct, one of the truly amazing value proposition in North American sporting landscape today.

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