East notes: DC gets unexpected boost
New United goalkeeper acquired on exemption thriving in first action
The shutout ended a hectic few days for Cronin, who thought his season ended once Vancouver eliminated Portland from the USL-1 playoffs on Oct. 4. It would have, except for the fact that United found themselves in a goalkeeping bind and turned to Cronin to fix the situation.
Cronin joined United last Monday on loan from Portland under the "extreme hardship" exemption as a replacement for injured starter (and former Los Angeles teammate) Josh Wicks, practiced with the team for the first time last week and earned the starting nod against the Crew based on his work in training.
Instead of letting the pressure of making his first appearance in perhaps United's biggest match of the year weigh on him, Cronin delivered a calm and assured performance for a D.C. side crying out for some stability in between the posts.
"It's always difficult coming into a new environment," United coach Tom Soehn said after the win. "Early in the week I recall him asking, 'who's he' and 'who's he'. And you wouldn't have guessed that today because he really solidified things (and) made great decisions. He looks like he's been with us all year."
Galaxy fans might be wondering where Cronin discovered that assurance after he logged 22 up-and-down games as Los Angeles' starter in 2008. The answer lies with Cronin's consistent work with the Timbers this season after his four-season stint with the Galaxy concluded prior to the 2009 campaign. Cronin earned Goalkeeper of the Year honors after posting a 0.68 GAA and collecting 10 shutouts as part of a back line that tied for the fewest goals allowed in USL-1 this season.
"He had a great year," United goalkeepers coach Mark Simpson told The Washington Post last week. "We followed him and, when we were allowed to sign someone for Josh, we took advantage of it. He was really our best option (among available goalkeepers)."
The decision to acquire Cronin and slot him straight into the starting XI in Milos Kocic's place paid off as the 26-year-old 'keeper transferred his USL form into the thick of the MLS playoff chase. Cronin credited his new teammates for helping him settle in quickly and allowing him to flourish in difficult circumstances.
"I felt at ease, I felt comfortable from the beginning and the guys' tendencies are pretty easy to learn, and as long as everybody is talking it makes it so much easier," Cronin said.
United, Crew grab important results: Cronin made his second start for United on Tuesday night as D.C. collected only the second point a MLS team has ever earned in Mexico with a 1-1 draw at Toluca in its final CONCACAF Champions League Group B encounter.
United forward Chris Pontius opened the scoring after six minutes with a highlight-reel strike, but Toluca's Israel Lopez equalized from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute to grab the Mexicans a share of the points.
"We definitely wanted to come and get the result here so we didn't have to count on somebody else," United coach Tom Soehn said after his side joined Houston as the only MLS team to leave Mexico with a point in competitive play (0-17-2). "This is a tough environment to come in and play in. I thought our guys handled it well. We had some chances to put the second goal away and we missed those opportunities and they came back to haunt us. Overall, it was a spirited match. They had their chances, as did we. We're disappointed not to come away with a better result but I thought our team fought well."
The draw means United will have to wait until the result of Thursday's match between CD Marathon of Honduras and San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad and Tobago) to learn whether they will advance to the quarterfinals.
Columbus won't have to wait for any other results after Emilio Renteria's 74th-minute equalizer snatched a 1-1 draw at Puerto Rico and ensured the Crew a spot in the knockout stages as the second-place team out of Group C.
Noah Delgado's 34th-minute opener put the Crew under pressure, knowing that a loss would open the door for Deportivo Saprissa to overhaul them with a victory against Cruz Azul. Second-half substitute Renteria tapped home fellow substitute Steven Lenhart's rebound to ensure the Eastern Conference would have at least one representative in next year's knockout stage.
Twellman salutes departing Mariner: When former New England assistant coach Paul Mariner joined the Revolution back in 2004, the former England international took Taylor Twellman under his wing to teach him the finer points of scoring at the highest level.
Twellman racked up 38 goals in his first two MLS seasons prior to Mariner's arrival, but Mariner took one look at former 1860 Munich striker and decided that his overall game needed substantial improvement anyways.
"He's been on me," Twellman said after Saturday night's 0-0 draw with Chicago, Mariner's final match with the Revs prior to joining English Championship club Plymouth Argyle as head coach. "He'll be the first one to tell you that when he came here in '04, he looked me in the eye and said I had a lot to work on. He said it best. He said you work hard enough, but you're not smart enough."
With Mariner's help and a healthy dose of application, Twellman rounded off the weaker parts of his game, turned into a vital link and holdup player for the Revolution attack and increased his appeal to European club teams and the U.S. national team.
Although Twellman couldn't feature in Mariner's final game with the club because he remains sidelined with a concussion, he did have the chance to make his debut as a color analyst on local radio to help usher Mariner across the pond. During the course of the broadcast, Twellman said he heard a statistic that he felt showed the type of impact Mariner had on his career.
"Brad (Feldman, Revolution broadcasting executive) told me the stat (on Saturday night in the booth)," Twellman said. "Since Paul has been here, with postseason and everything else, (I've) scored 87 goals (and won a MVP). I owe a lot of that to Paul and the rest to my teammates."
Ralston starts road to recovery: The injured Twellman sat next to fellow victim Steve Ralston after the draw against the Fire and the duo held court after the final home match of the season.
As Twellman talked about Mariner's helping hand, Ralston discussed the difficulties that lie ahead as he prepares to have surgery in the next week or two to repair the torn right ACL that ended his season on Sept. 26.
"It's difficult," Ralston said. "It's a serious injury. Last year, I broke my leg and it was six weeks. This is six months. I understand that it's the end of my contract, I'm 35 years old and I have a serious knee injury. It'll be tough decision time at some point soon."
Ralston said he has received encouraging phone calls from former teammates about shortening the projected recovery time and possibly returning even stronger than before. Those concerns, along with any discussions with the Revs about a potential deal for next season, are on the back burner until he has the surgery and the Revs conclude the 2009 season, Ralston said.
"Right now, I'm just concerned about the surgery I'm having in a week or two," Ralston said. "I'll worry about the other stuff later. I just want to have the surgery, hope all goes well and then we'll decide."
Although Ralston said he hasn't made any decisions yet, Twellman has already made up his mind about whether Ralston will return to the Revs for the 2010 campaign.
"This guy's playing until he's 40," Twellman said.
Kyle McCarthy covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com and serves as a contributing editor for Goal.com USA. Kyle can be reached at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com.
