Cavan Sullivan becomes teenager with most MLS regular-season assists after 12th in 4-3 win

Cavan Sullivan of the Philadelphia Union recently became the teenager with the most assists in a single Major League Soccer regular season when he provided his 12th assist during Philadelphia’s 4-3 victory over Sporting Kansas City.

Historically, only a small number of teenagers have reached double-digit assist totals in a single MLS season, and Sullivan’s new mark prompted a review of younger players who have achieved high assist numbers in MLS campaigns.

The report describes Sullivan as a 16-year-old sensation and records that he broke the previous teenage single-season assists record held by Alphonso Davies; elsewhere in the same article he is also described as 17 years old.

Alphonso Davies is noted in the report as having recorded 11 assists in the 2018 MLS regular campaign for Vancouver Whitecaps FC; the article states he was 17 years and 268 days old when he reached 10 or more assists that season, and it records Davies’ 2018 totals as eight goals and 11 assists in 31 regular-season games (27 starts) before his move to FC Bayern Munich.

Justin Ellis is listed as having recorded 10 assists in the 2026 MLS regular season, described as two short of the league’s single-season record for a youngster; the article says Ellis initially joined a Major League Soccer side in 2021 when he joined Inter Miami’s academy and that he joined Orlando City in 2023, becoming Orlando’s 19th homegrown acquisition after making his professional debut with their reserve club, Orlando City B, the previous year.

Landon Donovan is recorded as having accumulated 10 assists or more in a single MLS regular season on five occasions, primarily with the LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes, and the piece states that only a handful of players in Major League Soccer history have reached 10 assists in five or more regular seasons.

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