Evan Louro Feels he Owes FC Cincinnati his Best After Taking a Chance on Him

November 16, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – FC Cincinnati News Release

Before he came to FC Cincinnati just over a year ago, Evan Louro was looking for any opportunity to prove himself. Recovering from a full ACL tear, the 26-year-old was without a club and needing a chance to restart his career.

Now, just over a year later, the goalkeeper and energizer bunny of FCC has run with his chance and signed a three-year contract extension with the club to keep him with The Orange and Blue through 2025.

In his short time with the club, Louro has become an essential stitch in the fabric of what FC Cincinnati does. He’s praised by goalkeepers and outfield players alike for his work ethic, being the first to arrive to workout every morning and staying on the training pitch late to help shot takers have someone to shoot on. He does all of that with a smile on his face and usually with a laugh to join it.

Louro is often described as the “Vibes Guy” around the club. It’s not totally unfitting. When the group needs a laugh, he’s usually there to provide one. When it needs more energy, he gives it. Intensity, he brings it. When FC Cincinnati needs the “vibe” raised, Evan is there to provide the lift.

But the nickname is one that Luoro shrugs off and doesn’t think much of. Sure, he does all of those things, but it is not as if he wakes up every morning and strategizes how he can pump up the group.

“This is just kind of how I am,” Louro told FCCincinnati.com. “Some days, training is a little harder and it starts to get quiet. For me, I like to have fun so if I’m not having fun, chances are no one else is having fun. So I’m going to try to toss some fun in there somewhere. … I just don’t like coming into work walking on eggshells.”

Top of mind for the keeper, though, is the chance the club took on him. After tearing his ACL in a winning effort in the Eastern Conference Final for USL Championship side Tampa Bay Rowdies in 2021, Louro was left without a club, injured to recover on his own, and with a new family to support that included a baby on the way. Louro recalls hunting the depths of job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed for any soccer career he could find to stay in the game and support his family while keeping the dream alive.

“I owe a lot to this team because I was just trying to get insurance,” Louro remembers. I was having a baby. We were six months pregnant and pregnancies are expensive. So I owe a lot to this team.

“So that’s why I feel a sense of obligation….