Orlando City striker Cyle Larin was the overwhelming winner of MLS’s rookie of the year award.
As expected, MLS named Cyle Larin its AT&T Rookie of the Year on Tuesday. Orlando City’s Canadian star set the MLS record for goals scored by a rookie, shattering the previous record by five goals with 17 goals last season.
“We’re delighted for Cyle to win Rookie of the Year after his incredible first season in MLS,” coach Adrian Heath said in a press release. “Since he’s come on board, Cyle has really made an effort to learn and grow as a professional each day, and it’s certainly showed in his play on the field. His future is very bright if he continues to progress at this rate.”
Orlando City made Larin the top overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft last year. The Lions invested heavily in building their team through a guy like Larin.
And Larin surprisingly delivered immediately.
After starting the season getting brought along slowly, Larin debuted in the starting lineup on April 12 at Portland. He immediately made an impact scoring his first career goal in his first career start. He proceeded to start a scoring tear that included a hat trick in a loss at New York City FC.
He would later record a hat trick at New York Red Bulls on Sept. 25 as Orlando City fought to stay in the playoff race.
The Lions relied heavily on their rookie to be their offensive spark throughout the season. there was certainly some learning he had to do to hold up the ball and set others up, but it was a strong rookie campaign.
“I would like to thank the fans, who have been there for us all season. I wouldn’t have this award if it wasn’t for them,” Larin said in a press release. “Secondly I’d like to thank all of my teammates who have been behind me throughout the entire season and provided the assists for my goals. I’d also like to thank the entire technical staff. I don’t think I’d be in this position without them giving me the opportunity and believing in me. Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone throughout the league who voted for me. This award truly means a lot to me.”
Larin won the award running away too. He received 96.4 percent of the club vote, 97.2 percent of the media vote and 82.4 percent of the players vote in winning the award over Fatai Alashe of San Jose and Matt Polster of Chicago.
This was domination through and through just like Larin’s rookie season.
It will be interesting to see what he does for an encore.
