Crystal Palace FC USA update

Published on October 30, 2008 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Crystal Palace Baltimore News Release


Baltimore, MD - Baltimore's professional outdoor soccer team, Crystal Palace FC USA, is pleased to provide the following update:

- After signing for the New York Red Bulls of MLS (Major League Soccer) last month for an undisclosed fee from Palace USA, Matthew Mbuta made an impressive debut on September 27th, coming off the bench in the 70th minute at home to the Colorado Rapids, scoring after just four minutes. The young Cameroonian's clinical finish was even nominated for MLS Goal of the Week. Mbuta was included in the Red Bulls' starting lineup for the first time on October 18th. The New Yorkers begin their MLS playoff campaign this Saturday against the defending champion Houston Dynamo.

- In England, Palace USA captain Val Teixeira came off the bench 59 minutes into Chesterfield's home fixture with Brentford, for his debut with the Coca-Cola Football League Two side. The Portuguese native has yet to make a start during his time on loan at Chesterfield, but has appeared three times as as a substitute. The loan is currently set to end in January 2009. Chesterfield currently sit in 12th place in the 24-team division.

- Palace USA's Japanese defensive midfield star Shintaro Harada has completed loan periods with MLS clubs Real Salt Lake and the Chicago Fire, while local standout rookie Pat Healey was also loaned out to the Chicago Fire and to DC United.

- The squad has been keeping its training regimen intact through the off-season and in recent weeks spent several mornings practicing with the full DC United squad at RFK's auxiliary fields as they prepared for their playoff push.

- For the off-season, Pat Healey and fellow Baltimore native defender Mike Lookingland have signed on with the Baltimore Blast of the newly formed National Indoor Soccer League. For Lookingland, this will be his fourth season in a Blast uniform and for Healey his first. Healey is the son of Blast President and General Manager Kevin Healey.

"We've been really pleased that our players have been recognized by teams in higher leagues," said Palace USA Founder, Sporting Director and Co-Manager Jim Cherneski. "These are excellent opportunites for these guys." Cherneski went on to report that the squad continues to work together during the off-season: "We've all been training hard at morning practices and spending time doing strength training with Michael Kelly at LifeBridge. We'll have a good base of fitness coming into next season which will give us an advantage."

Fellow co-manager and Palace USA President, Pete Medd added: "We are really pleased with the attention being paid to our players this offseason. It verifies that when the team does well, individual players get recognized. Our club has the respect now of bigger clubs, especially MLS, not only because of our results in the US Open Cup, but how we achieved it with skillful soccer and quality players."

In other team news, Palace USA has elected not to renew the contracts of Gary Brooks, Kevin King and Cecil Lewis, while Sergio Flores has decided to retire from professional soccer. "While Cecil and Kevin were only briefly with us, both Gary and Sergio had a huge impact on our young franchise. Sergio scored some valuable goals for us while Gary was, at times, the driving force of our team and all-time leading scorer. We wish them both the best of luck in their future endeavors."

Meanwhile Medd and Cherneski have been active in a different sport recently: long-distance running. The two co-managers formed part of a four-man team that ran the Baltimore Marathon earlier this month. "I didn't prepare and I paid for it" remarked Cherneski. "But it was awesome - we finished in the top 100 of 700 teams, which is pretty good considering none of us are actual runners!"

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 30, 2008


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