Former Terp Taylor Twellman Named MLS Player of the Week
5/14/2002 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
May 13, 2002
New York, N.Y. - >
Release Courtesy of MLS Communications
New England forward Taylor Twellman was selected as Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for the week ending May 13, 2002. Twellman scored twice to lead the Revolution to a home-opening 2-0 victory over the Dallas Burn in front of a sellout crowd of 22,006 at the new state-of-the-art CMGI Field in Foxboro, Mass.
The Revolution were off to an ideal start Saturday night when Twellman, a former Maryland Terrapin, tallied the first goal in CMGI Field history only six minutes into the match. New England left back Joey Franchino lifted a cross into the box from the left side and Twellman was the first to react to the service, emerging from a crowd of players to send a perfectly-placed, left-footed volley into the left corner of the goal. It marked the third consecutive match that Twellman has found the back of the net within the first 10 minutes of a game.
"It was a dream start for us," Twellman said after the Revolution opened the new facility in style. "We couldn't ask for anything more from this game. Right now I'm in the right place at the right time. If we keep winning that's what matters to me."
In the 40th minute, the Revolution netted their second goal of the night off a corner kick. Captain Ted Chronopoulos curled a ball from the right flag toward the near post where Twellman jumped for the header, challenging Jordan near the goal line. Due to the pressure, the Burn goalkeeper was unable to get two fists on the ball in order to punch it away, instead deflecting the ball into his own net. Twellman now leads the Revolution with four goals and eight points.
"I'm going to claim it," Twellman said of the goal. "It hit the back of my head and Jordan got a good knock on me."
Twellman, in his first season in MLS since joining the League after playing two seasons with TSV 1860 Munich in the German Bundesliga, outdistanced Week Five's Player of the Week San Jose Earthquake forward Ariel Graziani, Colorado forward John Spencer, Rapids goalkeeper Scott Garlick, and Columbus Crew netminder Tom Presthus in the voting for the honor. Major League Soccer's Player of the Week is selected every Monday throughout the MLS season by a panel of journalists from PSRA.
