The first week in MLS produced major injuries for the New England Revolution. Taylor Twellman, the Revolution’s all-time leading goal scorer, will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery after suffering an injury during a training session last Thursday. Twellman, named to the starting lineup against Houston, was a late scratch because of the injury that should keep him out of the lineup for six weeks. Captain Steve Ralston then dislocated his shoulder later in that game; he will miss approximately three weeks.
“Those are big losses for us,” striker Adam Cristman said. “But this will show the depth of this team. We have a lot of good players and we will fill their shoes the best we can.” Cristman replaced Twellman against Houston, scoring the second in a 3-0 win at Gillette Stadium. The 23-year-old had expected to replace Pat Noonan, who departed for Aalesund FK in Norway in the off-season, alongside Twellman in the starting lineup, but he lost that job to 19-year-old Gambian forward Kenny Mansally.
“From a team perspective, you want a guy like Noonan to be out there,” Cristman said. “But that opened a place for me and we have been fighting for that position. Last year, I got the opportunity to play because [Noonan] was injured and Taylor was healthy. You never know when or how your opportunity is going to come and now I have to step up.”