Crystal Palace’s Pat Healey found himself in an unfamiliar position two weeks ago — forward.
After Palace lost two straight games, it was looking for any kind of spark to ignite an offense, which caused the midfielder to move up top to create — and finish — scoring chances.
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And Healey’s delivered — leading the team to a 3-2 record since the switch, as Palace (11-6-1, 34 points) is just a point out of third place entering tonight’s game against the Bermuda Hogges (4-12-2) at 7:30 at UMBC Stadium.
“It’s fun and different,” Healey, a former Towson standout said. “I haven’t had too much experience with [playing forward], but we are trying to get goals and haven’t scored that many despite getting a lot of chances.”
Since the switch, Healey has a goal and two assists, giving him five goals and two assists on the year. But more importantly, the 5-foot-11, 165-pounder has consistently won balls in the midfield and been fantastic at generating the attack. His stellar play is even more important since most of it came without forward Gary Brooks (seven goals, one assist). The team’s leading scorer missed a stretch of 324 minutes due to a red card, the ensuing match suspension, and another two games due to red card accumulation.
“I played forward twice at Towson in four years,” Healey said with a laugh. “The funny part was it was at the end a little bit. It frees you up a little bit, but it is really different. I never swing a ball or get the ball from a defender’s feet. When you are used to getting the ball, you have to be patient.”
Healey also isn’t afraid to get physical, as he is fifth in the United Soccer League Second Division with 28 fouls. The team needs him to be at his best if it is to catch Cleveland (10-3-5, 35 points) for third place. Palace already has clinched a spot in the six-team playoffs next week.
Palace concludes the regular season on Saturday night at 7 in Richmond, Va., against the second-place Kickers (13-4-2, 41).
“Pat is a very intelligent player and we wanted to move him closer to the goal,” Palace co-manager Pete Medd said. “We noticed his shots per game had gone down recently, and we need to score more goals. He’s a guy who has proven he can do that, rookie or no rookie, and you get him closer to the goal.”
