Cavan Sullivan cemented his case for making the U.S. men’s national team in the Union’s rout of San Diego

It’s expected that in about 72 hours from the time of this report, U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino will announce his 26-man roster for a series of four upcoming friendlies in the first FIFA international window since this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Here’s hoping Pochettino was watching Sunday because Sullivan not only made a serious case to earn what would be his first call-up to the senior squad, but it looks like at just 16, he’s arguably got the tools to become a mainstay on Pochettino’s roster.

Take the two goals he scored out of it, even though the first was pretty fantastic.

Sullivan’s runs off the ball to put himself into positions to score were arguably equally as impressive, especially the run in behind San Diego’s backline to score his second of the night. The kid has been a disruptor and it’s been a major catalyst behind the Union’s 10-game — that’s right, 10 — unbeaten streak since the MLS break for the World Cup, a break in which the club limped into with just one win in 10 matches.

“For all of the special things that Cavan does, these are the areas we’re asking him to get into,” said Union interim head coach Ryan Richter postgame. Richter, who for weeks has preached the Union “not getting ahead of ourselves” when it comes to priding the long unbeaten streak, couldn’t help but creep a smile when asked about the performance of Sullivan to date. “He can be effective and score a lot of goals. And he’s been committed to that, running into cutback spots, getting himself in the box … over the last few weeks, he’s been really efficient and it’s nice to see the confidence that he’s playing with."

It’s a collective confidence, however, as this Union team looks undeniably different from the one managed by former boss Bradley Carnell a few months prior. Milan Iloski, playing in his customary spot as the team’s out-and-out No. 9, has delivered to the tune of a team-high 13 goals on the season. The midfield collective, spearheaded by Danley Jean Jacques, Jovan Lukić, and the tireless runs of Indiana Vassilev, is fueling chances on goal at a higher clip.

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Now, this team has the opportunity to do what no one who watches them would’ve thought possible before the World Cup break when they travel to Sporting Kansas City this Saturday (8:30 p.m., Apple TV). The group can tie the franchise’s longest unbeaten streak at 11 with a win or draw against a Sporting side sitting in the basement of MLS’ Western Conference.

It’s a stat line that undoubtedly matters very little to this current Union team, which appears laser-focused on getting results and climbing higher up the table, but it’s certainly another notch on the belt and a true turning point for a squad that many people counted out — in June.

There’s also the argument too, that the Union have prided themselves on sticking to their guns and not chasing big names to bolster their roster. Four players directly from the club’s youth academy contributed in Saturday’s 5-0 rout of San Diego, with Sullivan, of course, the highlight. Sullivan and left back Frankie Westfield assisting on Bruno Damiani’s fourth goal in two matches in the 67th minute, followed by a goal off the bench from Malik Jakupovic in the 86th, showcase that the team feels confident it can get results with the young guns it employs night after night.

It should be noted that the goal for Jakupovic was his first.

“The homegrown players have done great, but the team has done great,” Richter, who was the club’s developmental coach at Union II before taking on his interim role, said. “I think everyone has [bought in] to being a part of this group and being a part of this team and it doesn’t matter if they’re 16 or they’re 39.”

In the same breath, however, Richter added:

“This is a part of our club strategy, and you’ve seen the great players that have come out of our academy, and now this is a group that is making a difference in a lot of games, and they need to make sure that they continue to stay focused and to keep pushing to get better and better because it’s what makes our club great.”

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With potentially a week in which Richter could see one of the club’s best young players shuffle off to join the U.S. men’s national team in Atlanta later this month for a series of matches, how do you plan around that?

“He’s excited, we’re excited, the club is excited,” said Richter on Sullivan’s potential call-up. “But we need to make sure that we focus on the day-to-day, keep his feet on the ground, keep training and working in the way that he is because he’s already getting rewarded for that work that he’s putting in. That’s where I’m going to keep the focus, and I know that’s where he’s going to keep the focus as well.”

With all this talk about the offense, it’d be remiss not to note that the recent run of form from Union goalkeeper Andre Blake has been nothing short of remarkable. In Saturday’s shutout of San Diego, Blake made five saves to fuel his third consecutive shutout and his fourth since the end of the World Cup break … the backline of Kai Wagner, Nathan Harriel, Westfield and 18-year-old Neil Pierre has allowed just nine goals in 10 MLS matches. Conversely, in that same span (since July 22), the Union have accounted for 28 goals, with 12 coming in the last three matches.

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