Career
While convalesing, Lassiter was contacted by AD Turrialba in 1992. As Lassiter recalls it, "I have no idea how they got my name. They paid for my trip down there while still recovering from my leg injury, and I signed a contract." He played the 1993-1994 season with Carmelita and after in 1994 the club LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica signed him to one of the most lucritive contracts of any foreigner player in Costa Rica of 1990-2000. After the 1994-1995 season, Lassiter received offers from several Mexican and European clubs, but Alajuelsense offered Lassiter a $60,000 bonus to remain with the club through the 1995 season.
In the season 1995-1996, Lassiter was named Foreign Player of the Year, his last season with LD Alajuelense.
Additionally, Major League Soccer (MLS) signed Lassiter in 1996. As part of the process of creating a new league, MLS allocated known players throughout the league's teams in order to create an initial equitable distribution of talent. MLS allocated Lassiter to the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Immediately clicking with midfield general Carlos Valderrama, Lassiter rode the Colombian's passes to the top of the league's scoring charts with 27 goals in 1996, a record that still stands. He added four assists for 58 points to become the league's first scoring leader. The Mutiny loaned Lassiter to Serie B team Genoa C.F.C. of Italy for $1.4 million USD for six months in October 1996 after his stellar first season in MLS.
Lassiter was traded to DC United in 1998 for Roy Wegerle. He played two seasons in DC, winning the MLS Cup in 1999. Lassiter was traded to the Miami Fusion in 2000 due to salary cap, to the Kansas City Wizards in 2001, and back to DC in the middle of the 2002 season. He ended his MLS career with 88 regular season goals, a record surpassed in 2004 by Jason Kreis. Lassiter added 13 goals in MLS playoffs and is 3rd in that category behind Carlos Ruiz and Landon Donovan. He ended his professional career with A-League's Virginia Beach Mariners in 2003 as player/assistant coach, but played a few games with Laredo Heat of the USL Premier Development League and the exhibition Austin Posse in 2004 to help promote their clubs.
Read more about this topic: Roy Lassiter
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