The New England Revolution will be without a key ingredient to their attack for the next six to eight weeks after forward Joe-Max Moore suffered a knee injury during the Revolution's 1-1 draw with the MetroStars on Sunday.
Moore, who played in just 16 games last season due to a series of injuries, went down in the 85th minute of Sunday's game after colliding with MetroStars forward John Wolyniec in an attempt to win the ball. After a brief attempt to continue playing, Moore was taken out of the game. An MRI later revealed a sprained medial collateral ligament in Moore's right knee.
"It's unfortunate for Joe-Max and for the team," said Revolution head coach Steve Nicol. "Joe gives his heart and soul every minute he's on the field and sometimes these things happen. The positive is that he came into the season extremely fit and we're confident he'll make a quick and full recovery."
The loss of Moore will leave an already thin Revolution attack even more depleted. Moore began the season as Taylor Twellman's strike partner, moving into a role just behind the front two of Twellman and Pat Noonan for the match against the MetroStars. Noonan and Twellman will likely remain up front. Jose Cancela missed last weekend's match through injury, which originally opened the door for Moore to move into the playmaking position.
Moore, now in his sixth season with the Revolution (1996-99, 2003-04), registered two assists in the Revolution's first three games of 2004. He is the club's all-time leading scorer with 117 points and has appeared 100 times for the U.S. national team. He is currently second all-time in U.S. goal scoring with 29.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
