Cade Cowell’s goal-hunting prowess was on display last year when he scored his first MLS goal as a 16-year-old.
Cowell’s second goal in the San Jose Earthquakes’ 3-1 win over FC Dallas Sunday was impressive, but it was that assist on Cristian Espinoza’s winner that had Matt Doyle raving on Extratime presented by Continental.
The perfect through ball to Espinoza put Cowell is some rarified air, according to Doyle.
“That pass blew my mind,” Doyle said. “He was damned near at a full sprint and his full sprint is really fast. This is a Jordan Morris-level athlete. He hit an outside-of-the-boot inch-perfect through ball that cut five defenders out of the play and gave his star winger a one-on-one with the keeper. The only US men’s soccer player I’ve seen hit that pass is Landon Donovan.”
Doyle was already high on Cowell, touting him as his preseason favorite to finish atop this year’s 22 Under 22 presented by BODYARMOR, but the pass put him in a different stratosphere.
“It’s very rare that you see one play that forces you to completely reconceptualize what you think a player is capable of,” Doyle said. “Having this pass in your repertoire just completely erases what I thought was Cade Cowell’s ceiling. It’s an incredible pass, a Kevin De Bruyne-level pass and it won the game.”
