Twellman might be going back on shelf
Ending provides unpleasant twist
CARSON, Calif. - Taylor Twellman has played games with serious illnesses, a broken nose, and in one game scored two goals on a broken foot. Twellman yesterday converted 14 minutes into his season debut as the Revolution took a 2-1 victory over Chivas USA, but he concluded the match with an ankle injury that could cause him to miss the Revolution's game against San Jose Saturday.
Twellman scored in the 59th minute, extending a scoring streak to four games dating to last year's MLS playoffs. Three minutes later, though, Twellman went down following a Shavar Thomas challenge. A minute after that, Twellman appeared to turn his ankle near the halfway line. Twellman remained down, then went to the bench as Adam Cristman prepared to replace him. But after drinking water, Twellman went to the fourth official before being waved back onto the field by referee Mark Geiger.
"That was just a hard tackle," Twellman said of the contact with Thomas.
"After that, I thought it was Shavar again, but everyone said he wasn't near me, and that's what scares me about this."
Twellman, who underwent right knee surgery April 2, has not played a full 90 minutes in an official game since the MLS Cup in November.
"Hopefully, [Twellman's ankle] is not as bad as he thinks it is," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "Obviously, after not playing for so long he doesn't want another injury."
Twellman, who replaced Kenny Mansally after halftime, last entered a Revolution game as a substitute in a 1-1 tie with Chivas last July 7.
Twellman's first two MLS appearances in 2002 were as a substitute and he scored twice in three substitute roles in 2003.
"Taylor is such a presence," Revolution defender Jay Heaps said. "He can always create a goal, so the defense has to be conscious of him and that opens things up for the second striker. Plus, he holds the ball well and, all of a sudden, guys are making better runs in the box.
"When you are going against him in training you always have your head on a swivel. There are certain guys like that, you never know where he is going to be.
"And when you do know you are going to have to outjump him or outfight him for the ball."
Twellman has scored 92 regular-season goals - as well as 108 goals in all competitions - for the Revolution.
Eyes didn't light up
The Revolution capitalized on a decimated Chivas USA defense, which was missing several regulars. "We, of all teams, can't do that," Nicol said of being able to count on capitalizing on the injuries. "When we've had injuries, guys stepped up and we won at Dallas [1-0, April 24]. We had to concentrate on the job at hand and forget about the names on the back of their shirts - we were playing against 11 players from Chivas. When teams haven't given us respect [because of injuries] we've beaten them." . . . Steve Ralston sustained a thigh bruise and was replaced by Gary Flood in the 79th minute. . . . The game was preceded by a tribute to former CD Guadalajara keeper Jaime "Tubo" Gomez, who died last week at 78 . . . More than 20,000 tickets have been sold for the Brazil-Venezuela game June 6 at Gillette Stadium.
