FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England goalkeeper Tim Murray waited for this moment for nearly two years.
Murray finally made his professional debut when he suited up for USL Pro side FC New York in their 2-1 defeat to Orlando City last Saturday night.
“It was nice to actually have a game,” Murray told MLSsoccer.com on Wednesday. “It didn't go so well for me, but, hopefully, there will be more opportunities in the future with this club.”
This particular chance cropped up for the former Providence No. 1 in the middle of last week. Murray received a phone call from New England assistant coach Remi Roy shortly after he returned from the Revolution's 3-2 victory over D.C. United in a Lamar Hunt US Open Cup play-in match to let him know that he would likely join the lower-league side on loan.
Both clubs hammered out the terms in time to allow Murray to make his debut last weekend.
Murray may have played for FC New York on Saturday, but he trained with the Revolution on Wednesday. The proximity of the two clubs allows Murray to shuttle back and forth during his multi-month loan. Murray said he expects to spend much of his time during the week working with his Revolution teammates before hopefully receiving first-team minutes with FC New York on the weekends.
“It's a great opportunity for me to be able to get the quality of training that I get here and still be able to get games,” Murray said.
Stolica joins Murray on New York adventure
Revolution forward Ilija Stolica also joined FC New York last week under a similar loan deal. While Murray logged all 90 minutes against Orlando City to mark his debut, Stolica played the last 20 minutes after replacing former Millwall and Gillingham striker Paul Shaw.
Murray said he was pleased to have a familiar face join him on his New York excursion.
“The two of us actually ended up driving down there together,” Murray said. “It definitely helps to have him around to have someone to stay with at the hotel with and go out and grab some dinner with instead of sitting around the hotel by myself with nothing to do.”
Coria, Perovic could contend for a place in the squad for Colorado match
Franco Coria (left knee sprain) and Marko Perovic (left knee sprain) are expected to train Thursday, according to Revolution boss Steve Nicol.
Perovic has missed the past two games with his knee complaint, but he jogged around the training field on Wednesday morning and showed enough for Nicol to reinstate him into the training mix on Thursday.
“He looked good [Wednesday], so he'll be joining in [Thursday],” Nicol said. We'll see what happens.”
The news isn't quite as positive for Didier Domi (left quadriceps strain) or Pat Phelan (shin). Domi will almost certainly miss Saturday's match with Colorado after suffering the injury late in Saturday's 3-0 victory at Chivas USA, while Phelan picked up a knock on his shin during training last week after recovering from a concussion he suffered earlier this month.
