When Harvey Sarajian was drafted fifth overall in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft, the question was never about his talent. It was about how quickly the Naples, Florida, native could adapt his college skills to the professional game.
Now, with just a month left in his rookie season, that skill tree is finally starting to bear fruit at the MLS level.
The 21-year-old began his first year as a pro playing with MLS NEXT Pro side Orlando City B, where he recorded seven goals and six assists in 16 appearances. Despite making his MLS debut back in April, a stint off the bench against the Houston Dynamo, Sarajian wasn't able to break into a strong attacking front consistently. Eventually, he continued to perform at OCB and earned minutes with the first team as they came back from the World Cup break. Now, as the Lions return from a week off for the final stretch of the season, Sarajian is looking to continue building on his season.
"It's awesome to show that my hard work and patience is showing off," Sarajian said. "I think it's a lot of credit to the coaches on the OCB side and first team side for integrating me and slowly developing me and making me take my time to get to where I want to be. I'm super grateful for that."
When he first signed with the Lions in January, he'd gone from a sophomore at Wake Forest to a professional in a matter of weeks, signing just four days after stepping onto the training pitch. The path to that moment was, in itself, a long one. He didn't come up through an MLS academy, and he says that has shaped how he sees his journey.
"My whole soccer career has been a slow, burning kind of thing where I didn't play in an MLS academy or anything like that," he said. "So it's always been a process and always kept me humble and taught me how to be patient."
The biggest milestone of that process so far came at Inter.co Stadium, when Sarajian found the back of the net for the first time in an Orlando City shirt on Sept. 12 against Toronto FC. For the young forward, that goal had a huge impact on his entire rookie season.
"That goal changed my whole year, honestly, because it just gives me the belief that I can go and score against these teams and help this team," Sarajian said. "That was a huge moment for me."
It was the kind of moment his 10-year-old self might have imagined. Sarajian attended his first professional match at Camping World Stadium in 2015, an Orlando City game that was delayed by rain, and now he's scoring in the same crest he watched from the stands.
The work isn't done for Sarajian and the Lions. The team will face the Columbus Crew this Saturday night at Inter.co Stadium, just a couple of weeks removed from meeting them in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal.
"We're going to use that game to learn from and come at them with a better plan," he said. "We're excited to get out there and compete against them again."
