Brampton’s Larin builds on rookie success

Cyle Larin, Major League Soccer’s reigning rookie of the year, is winning an important battle in his second season with Orlando City Soccer Club: He is defying the sophomore slump.

The Brampton native, who got his soccer start with the Brampton Battlecats before becoming the first Canadian to be selected No. 1 overall in the MLS draft, scored 17 goals last season, a rookie record. And if there is pressure to match those numbers, Larin is not showing it. He has seven goals — and three assists — in 13 games and is sixth in league scoring.

“I’m motivated every game to score, to keep helping my team and to win games. I don’t think it’s pressure,” he said. “I love playing the game and scoring is what I like to do. I get a lot of adrenalin off of scoring.”

Larin, though, has yet to score against Toronto FC. “It’s still on the list.” Larin is keenly aware that, heading into the Reds’ Florida visit on Saturday, Orlando has yet to beat Toronto. The Reds won all three meetings in 2015.

Toronto, in fifth place in the East, is two points ahead of eight-place Orlando in the Eastern Conference, with the Reds in a playoff spot and Orlando outside the cut.

Larin admits he went through a lot in his first season out of college, adjusting to the increased physical demands and the longer schedule of the professional game. At a certain point, he said, his body just got tired. The 21-year-old worked hard in the off-season to overcome that fatigue.

“I’m able to go 90 minutes and the last 15 minutes of the game, the last five minutes, I’m able to still keep going.”

Larin is helping teammate Richie Laryea, a midfielder, get used to similar demands. The two are longtime friends who grew up playing together at local club Sigma FC. Now, they’re also roommates in Florida.

Laryea has yet to make his MLS debut but Larin is optimistic about his friend’s future.

“Hopefully he gets his chance like I did and hopefully he gets in the lineup soon, so he can show what he can do.”