Kennebunkport’s Max Murray scores his first goal for MLS team

Max Murray, a Kennebunkport native, scored his first goal for the MLS squad New York City FC on Sunday night in a 2-1 Leagues Cup loss against CD Cruz Azul of Mexico in Harrison, New Jersey. Murray soared above defenders on a set-piece play and smacked in a header.

CD Cruz Azul plays in Mexico’s top tier Liga MX.

Playing center back, Murray was in the offensive end for a direct kick and was the target of Nicolas Fernandez’s bending left-to-right cross toward the far post. Murray, who is 6-foot-5, used a well-timed leap and forcefully redirected a header into the left side of the goal to tie the score in first-half added time.

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Murray, 24, graduated from Kennebunk High in 2020, where he also was a basketball standout, and starred at the University of Vermont as both a striker and defender and was a key player on the Catamounts’ 2024 NCAA championship team. A first-round draft pick, Murray is in his second season of professional soccer. In 2025 he started 21 games NYCFC II in the MLS Next Pro league and was on the MLS club’s game-day roster 10 times without an appearance.

This season Murray appeared in three early-season MLS Next Pro games but had not seen game action since March 19 until starting and playing 63 minutes in a Leagues Cup game Aug. 6. Murray started and played the entire match Sunday. He had dressed for NYCFC’s three most recent MLS games in late July.

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Tagged: soccer

Steve CraigStaff Writer

Steve Craig reports primarily about Maine’s active high school sports scene and, more recently, the Portland Hearts of Pine men's professional soccer team. His first newspaper job was covering Maine. More by Steve Craig