It took just seven starts for Cyle Larin to alert Brek Shea to his potential as a AT&T MLS Rookie of the Year candidate.
It was Shea who pointed his young Orlando City SC teammate in the right direction with a substantial nudge to make the most of that potential. After it was all said and done, even though Larin never initially set his sights on the award despite being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, it resulted in the young Canadian international landing the award in overwhelming fashion on the heels of his rookie MLS record of 17 goals in a season.
Larin remembers the conversation specifically.
He had just scored in three straight games in May to give him four goals in his first eight games coming into Orlando’s May 24 match against the San Jose Earthquakes, which ended in a 1-1 draw, when Shea told him it was within his reach.
“That goal only came up because Brek told me it was something I could reach,” Larin admitted yesterday from the Canada training camp in Vancouver, where he is preparing for the first of two World Cup qualifiers with his national team. “My initial goals for the season were just to work hard and get into the lineup.”
“Then, when I scored my first few goals, I started thinking about making my target to score 10 for the season, and things just developed from there, setting new goals all the time.”
Larin’s remarkable rookie success story has already created a lot of buzz around the 20-year-old from Brampton, Ontario, who was comfortably the consensus top college selection after two seasons with the University of Connecticut.
After starting the season fifth on City’s forward depth chart, he soon found himself in the starting role after injuries and fitness concerns sidelined Bryan Rochez, Martin Paterson, Carlos Rivas and Pedro Ribeiro.
The soft-spoken Larin – still known as “the silent giant” to his college and club teammates back in Toronto – equaled the 2003 11-goal rookie record of Chicago’s Damani Ralph by Aug. 1 and then added six more in his final four games. But his exploits couldn't land the Lions a spot in the 2015 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, and he has his eyes on achieving more with his club in 2016.
“There are always more goals to reach,” Larin said. “I want to follow up what I did this year by winning something with my team and getting a championship. The next thing is to be the top goal scorer in the league itself and, if I keep doing the things I did this year and working hard in the offseason, I think that’s something I can achieve.
“I certainly have a lot of confidence from this season. My coaches and teammates have really instilled that in me. It feels like I have come a long way and, while it has been a long year for me, it has been a very good one. Hopefully next year can be even better.”
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Larin will be expected to give Canada a real boost in their World Cup qualifying campaign, starting on Friday at home against Honduras, and he has no doubt that he is prepared for the challenges ahead.
“I have gained a lot of experience this season, including in the Gold Cup this summer, and I know what to expect now,” he said. “I know what I have to do to be ready for this next challenge and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Orlando head coach Adrian Heath also has all the confidence that the imposing 6-foot-2 hit man can achieve a lot more.
“Cyle is already well on the way to a great career,” Heath said. “The most pleasing thing is that he is taking the things we work on from Monday to Friday on the training field into games with him. If he avoids injury, the sky’s the limit for him.”
