Youth and college
Born in Curitiba, [1] Lapa played in the youth academies of Paraná and Athletico Paranaense, [2] [3] before moving to the United States in 2014, when he joined the Montverde Academy in Florida. [1]
In 2016, Lapa began playing college soccer at Wake Forest University. [1] At Wake Forest, Lapa made 80 appearances, scoring 23 goals and tallying 15 assists. In his junior year, Lapa was named the 2018 ACC Midfielder of the Year, was a MAC Hermann Trophy Semi-finalist, and a United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News First Team All-American. [1]
Whilst at college, Lapa played in the USL League Two for both SIMA Águilas in 2018 [4] and North Carolina Fusion U23 in 2019. [5]
Professional
Birmingham Legion
Lapa signed his first professional contract with USL Championship side Birmingham Legion on 14 February 2020. [6] He made his professional debut on 15 July 2020 against Memphis 901, scoring two goals and assisting the third in a 3–0 win. [7]
At the end of the 2020 season, Lapa was named as an All-League First Team selection; he subsequently signed a multi-year contract with Birmingham. [8] On 2 August 2022, Lapa was named USL Championship Player of the Week for Week 21 of the 2022 season after scoring the first hat-trick in the club's history against Loudoun United. [9]
Memphis 901
On 1 February 2023, Lapa joined USL Championship side Memphis 901, signing a multi-year deal. [10]
He left the club at the end of the 2024 season, following the public announcement of the team's folding due to insufficient funding for a new soccer-specific stadium in November of the same year. [11] [12]
