Sporting KC signs native Kansas Citian Lewis as a home-grown player
Sporting Kansas City has signed defender Matt Lewis, a native Kansas Citian who spent the last four years setting records at Fordham University, as the eighth home-grown player in club history.
Lewis has signed a one-year contract with options for 2019, 2020 and 2021, the team announced Monday,
Lewis, 21, was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and attended Rockhurst High School. He was a team captain for the Sporting KC Academy U-18s during the 2013-14 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season. He then set all-time school records in starts and games (84 of each) during a four-year career at Fordham.
"Matt is a former Academy player who continued to develop and improve throughout his successful college career at Fordham," said Brian Bliss, Sporting KC's director of player personnel. "We look forward to working with him again as we begin the preseason."
Lewis registered five goals and four assists over his last two collegiate seasons. He helped lead the Rams to a pair of Atlantic 10 Conference titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program's first-ever Elite Eight appearance last month. He was an All-Atlantic 10 second-team selection as a sophomore and junior and received 2017 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior.
