Forward thinking on scoring chances
FOXBOROUGH -- Revolution forward Pat Noonan was among the most consistently productive players in MLS in his first three seasons in the league. But Noonan has been struggling with injuries since performing for the US in the Gold Cup last season, and last night converted his first goal in regular-season play since June 25, 2005, as the Revolution took a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls.
Noonan, though, departed with a hip flexor injury in the 18th minute.
``At this point, I am not worried about that," Noonan said of breaking his scoreless skein. ``[The injury] is related to the hamstring. It bothered me a little during the week, but I thought I could go out and at least help the team, I thought I could stay out there and deal with the pain.
``We need to keep winning at home. This gives us a chance to catch Chicago for the second spot."
The Revolution (34 points) are in third place behind D.C. United (51), which visits Gillette Stadium Wednesday, and Chicago ( 38), and ahead of Kansas City (33) in the race for the four playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
Noonan has scored 30 regular-season career goals in 92 games, 11 in 14 games against New York .
``We are obviously interested in him, but it is a wee bit unfair to judge him after a couple of days of training," coach Steve Nicol said. ``We are keen to see how he does. He is a goal-scorer and we have said enough times this year our problem is putting the ball in the net. He is tidy, he has a good touch, he is a striker who can hold the ball and put the ball in the net."
``This is a good team, my teammates are good players, they played in the final last year," Abundis said. ``I feel good and I have no doubts about coming here."
Abundis would be the second Mexican to perform for the Revolution, following his former national team teammate Damian Alvarez, who was with the team briefly in 1998.
``I know [Abundis] well, he has a lot of experience in the Mexican League and with the national team," said Revolution midfielder José Cancela, who played in Mexico for two years. ``This is a new league for him and we are going to support and help him. He is technical and a good finisher; he has a lot of experience and he can help us.
``He has scored a lot of goals. In Mexico and South America, the style is a little different than here in the US; it's not as physical. His style is a little different but it could help us. We need something to get us started, to get us to the playoffs."
Abundis was recruited by San Jose in 2000 and was expected to join MLS as part of a package that included Luis Hernandez moving to Los Angeles. Abundis remained with Toluca, but he had been involved in some historic MLS dates -- he was on the bench for the US-Mexico 2-2 tie in a World Cup qualifier before 57,407 at Foxboro Stadium April 20, 1996 (a doubleheader with a Revolution-Tampa Bay match); and he scored the deciding goal as Mexico defeated the US, 2-1, before 92,216 at the Rose Bowl (a doubleheader with Galaxy-Tampa Bay) later that year.
