On June 22, "Sunny" suffered multiple facial fractures when he collided with New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles. RSL team physician Dr. Andrew Cooper has seen his share of injuries in his time, but he said Sunny's "got my heart rate up for sure." Successful surgery was eventually performed and the broken cheek bones and eye socket were reset.
But a hole was left in the RSL midfield. Sunny would go on to miss 12 regular-season matches.
As he's done in his three years at the club, Luke Mulholland was waiting in the wings. The 28-year-old midfielder, an established starter the last two years, lost his job in preseason when he picked up an untimely injury.