Cavan Sullivan’s record-setting MLS debut was big for the Union, but Tai Baribo’s hat trick was bigger

Sullivan became the youngest player to play in a game in MLS history, but don't let that overshadow how Baribo's hat trick snapped the Union's 10-game winless skid.

Cavan Sullivan (left) celebrated his MLS debut with his brother Quinn, who also played in Wednesday's game.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published July 18, 2024, 10:20 a.m. ET

There were good reasons for the Union to get some positive buzz for the first time in a while on Wednesday.

The most prominent reason was the hype around 14-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan potentially making his MLS debut, which he ended up doing. Sullivan thus became not just the youngest player to play in a game in MLS history, but the youngest in any major North American professional sports league.

From his pregame warmups to his stretching before taking the field, Sullivan was surrounded by a small army of cameras. Some were from a film crew with sports documentary maker Box to Box, which is working with MLS and Apple on a behind-the-scenes series this season. (If you’ve watched Netflix’s Drive to Survive about Formula 1 racing, it’s by the same company.)

The crew was mere inches from him at times, not just with cameras but with big microphones hung over Sullivan and Jim Curtin as they chatted at the Union’s bench. At the final whistle, they ran on to the field with a dozen other photographers and social media creators, all racing to get the precious footage to make viral on TikTok and Instagram. Then they followed Sullivan over to a corner of the stands where he gave his family big hugs.

It was a scene, no doubt. Yet while Subaru Park was loud and lively, the stands were half-full at best, and not just because of the rainstorm that rolled over the stadium for nearly an hour.

Was Sullivan’s potential debut enough to bother fighting midweek rush hour traffic for a team that had lost 10 straight games before Wednesday night, and hadn’t won at home since March 30? All those empty seats told a truth that the Union (and MLS headquarters) surely hoped Sullivan would overshadow.

He did, but another Union player did, too — and that mattered more.

Baribo’s starring role

Curtin framed it perfectly in his postgame news conference after Tai Baribo’s hat trick powered the Union to a 5-1 win over a poor New England Revolution lineup.

“I know tonight is definitely Cavan Sullivan’s night, for a reason for sure, but I do have to single out — and you guys know I don’t love to single out people — the job that Tai Baribo has done for us,” Curtin said. “In, I’ll just say, situations where he could have demanded to be traded, demanded to get out of here, whatever it might be. But he continued to work hard.”

Baribo has six goals in his last six games, and has officially ended Curtin’s old complaints about the Israeli striker’s practice habits. Talent prevails, as it should, and Baribo has far more of it than Chris Donovan.

“It’s not just the hat trick, it’s how he’s played and performed over the course of several games,” Curtin said, specifically noting his defensive work. “Three real striker goals, and [I’m] really happy for Tai and his performance. It’s going to be overshadowed, though, by something else, that’s for sure.”

It won’t be from here. The Union (5-10-9, 24 points) still have a long way to climb from the wrong end of the standings, but a win like this turns the lights on over the stairs. There’s enough time to make the playoffs, and if they play like this, they will.

“Sometimes you deserve and you don’t get the points; sometimes you don’t deserve and you get the points,” Baribo said, “and sometimes, like today, you deserve and you get the points.”

Now, about Sullivan

You could barely write a better script (speaking of all those cameras) than what unfolded right after Sullivan was told he was going on. His oldest brother, Quinn, unleashed a 20-yard golazo to cap off the night’s scoring, then ran to the end line to celebrate with Cavan. And soon after Cavan entered, he and Quinn played a pretty give-and-go down the left wing that electrified the crowd again.

If you’re new to this, know there’s nothing new about teenage phenoms in soccer. Look no further than Lamine Yamal, Spain’s superstar of the recent European Championship. He debuted for Barcelona at 16, and turned 17 a day before winning the Euros title.

Teens are common in American soccer, too. Though Sullivan is the youngest player to play a game in MLS, he was the fifth-youngest first-team signing in league history. The NWSL also has its share, with U.S. Olympian Jaedyn Shaw now joined by younger players than she was when she debuted at 17.

But the amount of hype poured on Sullivan when he has still done so little as a pro was becoming concerning. For as many great young players as American soccer has seen, it has seen even more busts.

That made it especially poignant when MLS’s first teen phenom, Freddy Adu, saluted Sullivan’s debut on social media. Adu’s record for the league’s youngest debutant stood for over 20 years, until Sullivan broke it by 13 days.

“Big congrats to Cavan Sullivan for his record breaking debut today,” Adu wrote. “That’s a hard record to break and the kid did it. Well done and good luck my man.”

Sullivan gave Adu heartfelt thanks for the compliment.

“It was pretty cool to have some words from someone like him,” he said. “He really paved the way for young guys like me, and I only have respect for him because he held the record for however many years.”

‘He’s not a normal kid’

Fans will wonder when Sullivan will play next. Curtin didn’t talk about that, and he didn’t have to. With the history books settled, everyone could return the focus to Sullivan’s long-term development, which will see him join English superpower Manchester City at age 18.

“The time was right to give him an opportunity,” Curtin said, emphasizing good work put in at every step: with Union youth teams, with the reserves (including two recent goals), and in practice with the senior squad.

Sullivan was humble in his own postgame news conference, a great sign for a kid with so much around him.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to reach for [the record],” he said, “but it’s about where you finish. So if I didn’t make it today, or if I didn’t make it Saturday, and I was the second-youngest or the third-youngest, as long as I make my debut and I start my career here, it doesn’t matter to me.“

But everyone knows how much of a talent Sullivan is, and Curtin isn’t afraid to say it. Combined with his decades-long ties to the Sullivan family and the Union’s track record of developing youngsters, there’s no doubt that he’s the right manager to bring Cavan along.

“He’s not a normal kid. We’ve known that from the start,” Curtin said. “Do I still want him to play like a kid, and play with that joy in the backyard with his brothers? Of course, but he’s different. That’s the reality of things.”

And you don’t need to tell Curtin about Adu. They played against each other many times, including four games in Adu’s rookie year. And when Adu was on the Union from 2011-13, his last year here was Curtin’s first as a first-team assistant.

For as much natural talent as Adu had, too much of his career was a novelty act. Sullivan’s won’t be.

“There’s no such thing as too old or too young, there’s only good and bad — and he’s special, and you can see that tonight,” Curtin said. “He’s going to get better and better every time he gets minutes; he’s going to get better and better as he moves up the levels, and eventually moves to Europe. But while we have him, let’s enjoy it.”