Niko Gioacchini reported to his new club in St. Louis on January 6, five days before St. Louis CITY SC’s first full-team training in franchise history. He was eager to get started—and excited to start over. Gioacchini’s short stint with Orlando the previous summer didn’t go as he’d expected. He neither played much, nor scored any goals, leaving him confidence-sapped and unfulfilled. CITY’s decision to select him with its first pick in the 2022 MLS Expansion Draft gave him hope that a new beginning was exactly what he needed, and his first phone call with sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel and head coach Bradley Carnell only confirmed his belief.
“It was an exciting phone call,” Gioacchini says. “Definitely wasn’t the same one I got from Orlando when I got there back in July of last year. I was coming off a tough year, so anything positive coming to my ears was a big boost.”
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To Pfannenstiel, the architect of the roster, selecting Gioacchini first in the draft was a “no-brainer,” knowing that the 23-year-old possessed great speed and a hard-working attitude. On paper, the fit for both club and player made sense. In reality, it surpassed Gioacchini’s expectations.
“I was expecting fun,” he says, “and I got fun, fun, fun.”
Indeed, Gioacchini played a crucial role in helping CITY to the Western Conference title. When lead striker João Klauss went down with an injury in late April, Gioacchini stepped up to stabilize CITY’s frontline. For a player unable to find a rhythm at his first MLS stop, coming to St. Louis was a transformative move. He didn’t merely find his game. Gioacchini says he found a home.
“It was definitely a confidence booster,” he says. “It definitely brought lovely memories to me, especially outside the pitch when we got to get together with the guys and do other things except for soccer. Growing as a young man [and] having these people around you is definitely important, [as is] knowing you can trust them and rely on them for many things. It’s definitely a place where I created many friendships, and more to come.”
On the field, it was quickly apparent that Gioacchini’s game translated to Carnell’s system. He and Klauss tied for the team lead with 10 goals across all competitions, and his run of four scores in as many games in June was the club’s longest goal-scoring streak of the season. For Gioacchini, eight of his goals came at CITYPARK.
Producing at such a level raised Gioacchini’s spirits, and the match between his skills and Carnell’s system supplied him the boost he’d been looking for.
“It’s a system where it requires a lot of effort; consistent effort throughout the whole game and throughout the whole season,” Gioacchini says. “Loads do add up, eventually. I was physically ready for it. I was, especially, mentally ready for it, because that’s where it gets to you—the mind. It’s not easy, but it’s a game where you force mistakes and capitalize on those mistakes. It’s something I believe I do well. I tend to—when I get the chance—finish.”
Gioacchini, of course, will always remember the scoring output he produced in 2023, as well as the team’s rise to the top of the West. But more than anything else from such a memorable year, he will carry close the relationships he formed on and off the field.
After a string of frustrating seasons, Gioacchini experienced the career reset he knew he needed. He also found so much more.
“It’s a lovely community; the fans and the people around us. I more than enjoyed it,” Gioacchini says. “I’m really looking forward to preseason already. I mean, I know I need some break, but I love it here. This is definitely a place I would call home.”
