Cavan Sullivan set the Cavan Sullivan MLS goal contributions record on Oct. 10, tallying two assists in the Philadelphia Union’s 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake to reach 21 career goal contributions as a teenager, the most in league history. The 17-year-old midfielder, in his first full MLS season, also moved into a share of the league’s assists lead this season with 14.
Sullivan’s two assists at home against Real Salt Lake set up both Union goals. Bruno Damiani scored the opener and Milan Iloski added the second, with Sullivan involved in the buildup to each.
The Main Development
Sullivan’s 21 combined goals and assists as a teenager broke the previous MLS record of 19, set by Alphonso Davies in 2018, and topped the 20 that Diego Fagúndez posted in 2013. The milestone came in a game that interim manager Ryan Richter did not consider Sullivan’s sharpest performance.
“I did not think it was his best game. He was solid, I would say,” Richter said after the match. “Even in a game where he wasn’t electric in the way he has been in most games, he still has a hand in the first goal for the assist, and then he kind of makes the play that leads to the action for the second goal. Even when everything is not coming off perfectly… he still finds a way to create both goals that we had tonight.”
What It Means
Sullivan now shares the MLS assists lead with 14 on the season, a total that stands out given his age and the fact that this is his first full campaign in the league. Reaching 21 goal contributions while tied atop the assists chart shows a player who has become central to Philadelphia’s attack rather than a supplementary piece surrounded by more established veterans.
Context: A Union Turnaround
The record arrived in the same match that pushed the Union’s unbeaten streak to 13 games, a club record. Philadelphia went 11-0-2 during that stretch after sitting at the bottom of the league standings in the first half of the season. The Union now sit sixth in the Eastern Conference with six games left to play.
Sullivan’s rise has not been confined to club soccer. He recently made his first USMNT start against Peru and scored his first international goal against Mexico, becoming the youngest player in USMNT history to score for the senior national team. MLS commissioner Don Garber has pointed to Sullivan as an example of the league’s rising talent pool on the global stage, according to CBS Sports.
What’s Next
Philadelphia has six regular-season matches remaining as it tries to extend its club-record unbeaten run and climb further up the Eastern Conference table. Sullivan will look to add to his MLS-leading assist total and his record-setting contributions tally as the Union push for playoff positioning, according to Yahoo Sports.
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