Parkhurst's goal is Olympics
FOXBOROUGH - Defender Michael Parkhurst has heard the rumblings. Today, when the US Olympic team is announced, Parkhurst could be among the 18 players and four alternates on the roster for coach Peter Nowak's team.
Parkhurst, who was recently named an MLS All-Star, is hoping for the best.
"It would be a huge honor to represent the country at the Olympics," said Parkhurst, 24. "It's a real special event. It's a dream of every athlete to play in the Olympics."
US team training will begin Sunday in Palo Alto, Calif. The team will leave for Hong Kong July 25 for the
Former Revolution players who have competed for the US in the Olympics include Imad Baba, Brian Dunseth, and Joe-Max Moore.
Called to serve
The reasons behind defender Chase Hilgenbrinck's retirement earlier this week may have caught some by surprise, but teammates Wells Thompson and Adam Cristman couldn't be more pleased. Hilgenbrinck announced he was leaving soccer to enter a Catholic seminary in Maryland."After years of discernment, I feel strongly that the Lord has called me to become a priest in the Catholic Church," Hilgenbrinck said in a release. "Playing professional soccer has been my passion for a long time and I feel blessed to have successfully lived out this dream. My passion now is to do the will of God, which is wanting only what he wants for me. Though I will miss the game of soccer, I know that I am moving on to something much greater."
Cristman and Thompson were part of a team Bible group with Hilgenbrinck and talked with him about his decision.
"It wasn't an off-the-cuff, last-minute thing," Thompson said. "That was part of his plan when he came back from Chile."
Hilgenbrinck played four years in Chile after playing at Clemson. The Illinois native signed with the Revolution in March.
"It's tough to give up playing professional sports like that, but we knew he was called to do that, and he was really excited about it. It seemed like everything was falling into place really well," Cristman said.
Said Thompson, "It's pretty amazing that you work for something your whole life and then you get it and then to quit it. We knew how important this was to him. I was just excited for him. It was a pretty bold decision to make. I'm happy for him and I'm sure he'll do great things."
Tierney starts
Midfielder Chris Tierney, a Noble and Greenough graduate, started his first MLS game last night as the Revolution beat CF Pachuca, 1-0, in the SuperLiga. Tierney filled in for Chris Albright, who was a late scratch because of a lower-body injury. Tierney was a second-round pick (13th overall) in this year's supplemental draft. He graduated in May from the University of Virginia. He had 11 goals and 16 assists in four years for the Cavaliers.
