FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution has announced that defender Chase Hilgenbrinck has decided to leave the club and retire from soccer to enter a Catholic seminary in Maryland to prepare for a new career in the ministry. Additionally, the Revs announced that MLS rookie of the year candidate forward Kheli Dube has been promoted to the team's 18-man senior roster.
Hilgenbrinck, 26, signed with the Revolution on March 28, 2008 following a four-year career in Chile. He made four appearances in MLS first-team matches, including one start. A native of Bloomington, Ill., he also started the Revs' two U.S. Open Cup victories this month. Additionally, he started all six of the reserve team's games for which he was available, captaining the team twice.
"We understand Chase's decision to retire from soccer and pursue his mission of helping others and we support his desire to make this change in his life." Revolution Vice President of Player Personnel Michael Burns said. "We wish Chase the best and thank him for the service and leadership he provided in his brief tenure with us."
"After years of discernment, I feel strongly that the Lord has called me to become a priest in the Catholic Church," Hilgenbrinck said. "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."
Dube, 25, has appeared in 18 total games this season, including 16 appearances in MLS regular-season games. In all competitions, he has made 10 starts, scoring five goals and adding three assists to help lift the Revolution into first place in all of Major League Soccer with a 10-4-3 record (33 pts.). Among his goals was the game-winning strike against current Mexican champion Santos Laguna in Sunday's 1-0 victory in the teams' SuperLiga 2008 opener.
The Bulawayo, Zimbabwe native was drafted by the Revolution in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft out of Coastal Carolina.
New England is in the midst of a three-week break from the MLS regular-season schedule while participating in SuperLiga 2008, a competition between the top four clubs teams in both the U.S. and Mexico. The Revs, who defeated current Mexican champion Santos Laguna, 1-0, on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, will host reigning SuperLiga and CONCACAF regional champion Pachuca on Wednesday, July 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 1-877-GET-REVS or at revolutionsoccer.net. Telefutura (Spanish) is televising the entire SuperLiga 2008 tournament live, while both English and Spanish video is available at superliga2008.com and mlsnet.com.
TRANSACTIONS: New England Revolution (MLS) - D Chase Hilgenbrinck announced retirement; F Kheli Dube promoted the 18-man senior roster.
