Kansas City, Missouri - - - Former UMBC standout Taylor Calheira '23 has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Sporting Kansas City (Major League Soccer) through the 2027-2028 season with club options for the 2028-2029 and 2029-2030 seasons.
Calheira, the 10th Retriever either drafted or signed by an MLS club since 2011, recorded 32 goals and 16 assists in 61 career matches for the Retrievers from 2020-2023. Calheira was named America East Striker of the Year in both 2022 and 2023 after earning America East All-Rookie Team honors in 2020. Calheira stands in eighth place on the school's all-time list in goals. He completed his tenure tied for seventh place on the Retrievers' all-time points list with 79. The 2023 America East All-Academic Team honoree earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in just three and a half years.
"Taylor deserves this opportunity," UMBC Head Coach
Anthony Adams stated. "Sporting KC is getting a tremendous talent and, more importantly, an amazing person. We couldn't be happier for Taylor."
Sporting Kansas City acquired the 23-year-old forward in a transfer from FC Tulsa in the USL Championship. Calheira has enjoyed a prolific start to his professional career, tallying 38 goals and 10 assists in 69 matches while representing FC Tulsa in the USL Championship in 2025 and NYCFC II in MLS NEXT Pro in 2024.
"Taylor has an impressive goal-scoring record at every level he has played from college to MLS NEXT Pro to the USL Championship," President of Soccer Operations & General Manager David Lee said. "Taylor has consistently shown high levels of performance as he stepped up to a higher level of competition each of the last three seasons, and he is now eager to prove himself in MLS. He will provide good instincts around the goal to go along with his clean technical ability and an excellent work rate."
The Baltimore, Md. native joins Sporting after an impressive debut campaign with FC Tulsa in 2025, recording 21 goals and four assists in all competitions as Tulsa finished atop the Western Conference with a 16-5-9 record and reached the USL Championship Final.
Calheira finished 2025 as the second top scorer in the USL Championship with 17 goals – setting a club record with 15 goals in the regular season and two in the playoffs – while being named to the 2025 USL Championship All-League First Team. Calheira posted a league-high +11.11 Goals Added mark – a statistic that measures a player's total on-ball contribution in attack and defense.
Calheira scored both of his postseason goals in the team's 3-0 win over New Mexico United in the Western Conference Final before sinking his penalty in the shootout defeat against Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the USL Championship Final.
Calheira began his professional career with NYCFC II after being selected in the third round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. In his lone season with NYCFC II, Calheira tallied 17 goals and six assists on his way to earning MLS NEXT Pro Best XI honors while playing a pivotal role in the club's remarkable run to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16.
Sporting opened the 2026 MLS season against the San Jose Earthquakes this past Saturday, Feb. 21. The club's home opener will be against the Columbus Crew at Sporting Park on Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
