Tierney Tallies in 200th Start
- Updated: March 25, 2017
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Nine years ago, few would’ve predicted that Supplemental Draft pick Chris Tierney would get the chance to start 20 games for the Revolution, nevermind 200. But on Saturday, the Wellesley, Mass. native proved the oddsmakers wrong.
Nearly a decade after essentially joining the club on an extended tryout, the 69th player taken between the two college player drafts in 2008 reached the 200 start mark in Saturday’s 5-2 win over Minnesota United.
Tierney is the fourth player in Revolution history to record 200 starts. He joined Shalrie Joseph (254), Matt Reis (253), and Jay Heaps (238) on the shortlist of players to reach the mark.
“Yeah, I mean, I sound like a broken at this point, but I’m so proud to be a Revolution player,” Tierney said. “I really can’t see myself playing for any other club. So to start 200 games is really special for me, and it’s something I’ll look back on one day and say, ‘Wow, that was pretty cool.’”
While Tierney’s career is closer to its twilight than its sunrise, the 31-year-old defender showed he still has plenty to give to the same club that took a chance on a left-footed University of Virginia product that was passed over during the entire 2008 SuperDraft.
Prior to Saturday’s match, Tierney, who also beat the odds by getting an All-Star nod in 2015, called together his teammates to speak about the importance of getting three points in the wake of back-to-back losses to open the season.
“(I said) it was time to draw a line in the sand,” Tierney said. “I think we’ve been frustrated with our first two results – two really tough road games for us – and I thought we fought hard and had some small mistakes that cost us games. So, you know, there’s certain times in seasons where we just have to win a game and this was one of those days.”
The talk seemed to work. After the Revolution were limited to one goal in the first two games, the squad exploded for five on Saturday, their biggest scoring haul in nearly three years.
“Chris has been awesome for nine seasons,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps said. “He is always ready to play, always leading the guys when he can.”
The highlight of Saturday’s match for the veteran left back was his 52nd minute penalty score, which came to fruition after Lee Nguyen, the team’s designated taker, deferred to his longtime teammate.
“You can’t design that,” Heaps said. “We can’t draw it up. That was really Lee being a leader, in saying, ‘I think that Chris, if he’s confident, Chris is good at penalty kicks. Why don’t you take it?’ I think it was a nod from Lee and the team, for Chris.”
Tierney was appreciative of the opportunity to score in a match that carried plenty of personal meaning for the former unheralded prospect. After all, there was a point in time where Tierney could only dream about about someday starting one game for his hometown team, nevermind 200 of them.
“It was just a great gesture from Lee to give me the opportunity to score,” Tierney said. “I’m glad I could finish it out.”
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