When 21-year-old Sporting Kansas City defender Jaylin Lindsey snuck behind the San Jose defense to dispatch the first goal of his professional career on Saturday night at PayPal Park, one of his teammates watching from home was especially excited.
Veteran right back Graham Zusi was sidelined for Sporting’s momentous 3-1 road win over the Earthquakes on Saturday with a minor quad injury. His replacement in defense, of course, was Lindsey, who delivered one of his best performances in a Sporting uniform by becoming the club’s second defender since 2010 to record a goal, five tackles and 10 duels in a regular season game.