When the New York Red Bulls won the Supporters' Shield on Decision Day presented by AT&T, it was a moment years in the making for many of the players.
Tyler Adams, Sean Davis, Derrick Etienne Jr. and Alex Muyl started for the club, all of whom signed as Homegrown players. The Red Bulls head into the playoffs as one of the league's leaders on trusting their youth, but are far from the only club.
In fact, four of the league's top five teams in Homegrown minutes made the playoffs. The Philadelphia Union, FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake join the Red Bulls in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup playoffs.
The Union will rely on Homegrown center back duo Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie when they travel to NYCFC on Halloween (7 pm ET | FS1, UniMas, TSN 1/4, TVAS). Trusty is also one of the league's four outfield players to play every single minute this year.
FC Dallas, even after trading Kellyn Acosta, made the league's top five, led by Jesse Gonzalez and Reggie Cannon. They also play Wednesday, against Portland (9:30 pm ET | UniMas, TSN 1/4, TVAS).
On Thursday, Corey Baird, Brooks Lennon and Justen Glad lead RSL to LAFC (10:30 pm ET | ESPN2, UniMas, TVAS, TSN), looking to pull off the upset.
The Athletic's Jeff Rueter broke it down a bit further on Twitter, too.
Interesting stuff. The kids are alright!
