Position: Goalkeeper
It took six years, but in 2017, Lalo Fernandez earned first-team minutes for his first time. That came after two years of regular play for Real Monarchs — and not long after those first minutes, he ended up leaving the club on a transfer to Mexican powerhouse Tigres.
Those minutes came in the US Open Cup, and they didn’t exactly come in the best of circumstances. The club gave a handful of their Real Monarchs players starts, and that was particularly important given the injuries that had been plaguing the first team at the time.