FC Cincinnati selects Indiana GK Roman Celentano No. 2 overall

With the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 Major League Soccer SuperDraft, FC Cincinnati selected goalkeeper Roman Celentano, addressing what is perhaps the club's greatest area of need. 

Celentano comes to Cincinnati from Indiana University, a marquee NCAA Division I program where he excelled. Celentano was a two-time Big Ten Conference goalkeeper of the year award winner, and was the first player to ever receive the honor twice.

Celentano amassed a 37-10-5 record at IU. He allowed just 33 goals in 52 matches. He also helped Indiana advance to the 2020 NCAA Tournament College Cup national title game (the 2020 tournament was staged in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). 

Following the selection made during the MLSSoccer.com live stream of the remote draft, first-year FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan was asked why the club went with a goalkeeper. 

"An area of need," Noonan said. "He provides good depth. He's going to come in with good character (and) good upside... We've seen and heard a lot about him in the previous months, and he's going to be a nice piece to this team." 

Celentano was named of of eight Generation Adidas contract players ahead of the draft, meaning he signed his pro deal with MLS before being selected. As an incentive to select those eight players, which are considered among the elite draft-eligible players, Celentano's salary won't count against the salary cap for FCC. 

Celentano joins an FC Cincinnati goalkeeping group in flux and now under the direction of the club's newly-hired head of goalkeepers, Paul Rogers.