Since the inaugural game in Monterey Bay F.C.’s history, you could make a good guess that the first name on the teamsheet for Head Coach Frank Yallop has been that of Morey Doner.

Why’s that?

In the club’s 84 regular season contests in the USL Championship entering this Saturday’s clash with NorCal rival Oakland Roots SC (6 p.m. ET | ESPN2), the Canadian full back has been in the starting lineup every game.

It’s a remarkable record of consistency, unmatched by any player in the Championship over the past two-and-a-half seasons.

In some ways, Doner is making up for lost time. The 30-year-old didn’t enter the professional ranks fully until he signed for York United FC of the Canadian Premier League before its inaugural season in 2019.

"I didn't sign my first professional contract until I was in my twenties,” Doner told Collingwood Today’s Gisele Winton Sarvis in April. “A lot of people start when they are younger, but I’ve always had people tell me that ‘You’re not good enough’ and that I might be wasting my time, even my parents, but I never stopped believing. I’ve wanted to do this since I was a young kid.”

Since he broke in, however, it’s been hard for his coaches to take him off the field.

At York, after sitting as a substitute in its first three games of the 2019 season, he was ever present the rest of the year, playing the full 90 minutes in each outing. The same was true in the abbreviated 2020 season and after a move to HFX Wanderers FC in 2021 he logged 21 appearances, going the full 90 every time he appeared.

There’s also the trio of Doner’s Monterey Bay teammate Kai Greene, Birmingham’s Phanuel Kavita and Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC’s Matt Mahoney, each of whom have logged 80 starts on their club’s back lines.

But still, Doner stands alone, with his two-way qualities currently helping Monterey Bay move into contention for a first trip to the postseason.

“[He] is a relentless runner up and down the flank,” said Yallop. “He gives good service into the box. He gets forward really well. Overall, he has good one-v-one defending ability and puts in good crosses in the final third … and he’s a fun character in the locker room.”

Most important of all, though, is the mantra you’d expect a late-bloomer like Doner to bring into every game.

“I try to play every game like it could be my last,” he said, “because you never know.”