Brenden Aaronson received so many text messages after scoring in his MLS debut on Sunday in Atlanta, he said it took about three hours to respond to all of them.
Several of those messages came from friends he’s kept in touch with from back home in Medford, N.J., friends he met playing soccer at Medford Soccer Club, Real Jersey FC or at the local schools he attended before transferring to YSC Academy as a sophomore.
“That was the only thing anyone was talking about,” said Brian Lorenz, a senior at Shawnee High School who captained the soccer team last fall.