Prolific as he was in his college career, it was only fitting that Connor Maloney would end up on the score sheet just 15 minutes into his first start in Major League Soccer for the Columbus Crew on Saturday.
Maloney, who had 27 goals and 17 assists primarily as a forward over four seasons at Penn State, earned his first MLS assist much the way he earned a spot on the team in preseason, by not giving up. After getting to the end line and delivering a hard cross toward Ethan Finley, the ball was deflected back to him and he beat his man to it to set up a wide open Ola Kamara.