MELBOURNE — It's a mystery what exactly sparked Orlando City goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr.'s outsized competitiveness.
Maybe it was being the youngest child of six. Maybe it was from watching his closest sibling, his sister Jasmine, dominate in sports, including on their shared flag football team. Maybe it was from roaming the sideline at the sporting events where his father, the current athletics director at UC-San Diego, worked.
Earl Edwards Sr. can't point to one thing, other than recalling the world-ending, soul-crushing reactions of his son, Edwards Jr. — or EJ as they call him — when he lost anything.