Coach Caleb Porter had a choice to make at left back before the Crew’s first game against FC Cincinnati on Aug. 10. He could pull Pedro Santos out of the central midfield, where he has been the Crew’s best offensive player this season, or he could call on a reserve who had never played the position.

Porter went with the latter and started Connor Maloney while the usual starters at left back this season, Hector Jimenez and Waylon Francis, recovered from injuries.

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Maloney made errors, as expected for someone who had played just 15 minutes all season. But what Porter knew about him from training throughout the season has come out in the best way in Maloney’s three starts since then.

Undersized and not as athletic as most attackers he’ll face in Major League Soccer, Maloney doesn’t leave his effort in question. It’s one of his strengths and the main reason he’s making the most of a surprising opportunity as a starter with Jimenez and Francis out for the near future.

“We just keep saying, 'Connor effing Maloney, man. Connor effing Maloney,’” Porter said. “He just throws everything out there and there's a few mistakes here and there, but he's punching above his weight right now.”

Maloney changed positions when he joined the Crew in 2017. He played as a winger at Penn State and moved to right back. As a right-footed player, left back doesn’t come naturally for Maloney because he can’t move the ball up the field along the edge as well as he can on the right.

“It's a little bit foreign, but not too much,” Maloney said. “If I can get on the field, I'm so happy with that and I'll give an honest effort."

The 5-foot-6 Maloney has always known his limitations and tries to make up for that with his drive. He’s somewhat of a gym rat, getting up early to get in a workout before training begins, and he defied expectations just to land a contract with the Crew in the 2017 preseason.

Maloney wasn’t listed on the 18-man roster in most games this season. He didn’t take it personally because he always believed that his consistent effort and a commitment to improving would allow him to see the field.

“When you give such an honest effort, I think it goes a long way,” Maloney said. “This league is progressing in the right direction and I feel like reading the game as well for such a small player like me, trying to read and take off angles and stuff like that, is going to be big."

The Crew has its left back for the future in Milton Valenzuela when he returns from his preseason ACL injury that cost him the season. Jimenez is an ideal role player who can come off the bench and fill in well at any point.

The Crew can find a more talented outside back than Maloney, but he can fill an important role on an MLS roster as an inexpensive player who will challenge those in front of him.

Porter said he didn’t know if recent games changed his offseason plans in regards to the roster. He added, however, that Maloney is the perfect roster player.

“What does that mean moving forward? He'll continue to have to fight for a spot,” Porter said. “But this stretch for him has definitely helped with regards to his position on the team moving forward at the minimum as a roster guy."

jmyers@dispatch.com

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