United 2 - Rhinos 1 July 21, 2009

An ugly game, to be remembered for two serious injuries, but which sends United to the USOC final at RFK. I didn't attend the match, but ignorance is never an excuse not to post anentry. For actual eyewitness reports and commentary, see the following:

• Goff's match report , and his player ratings:

Kocic 7, Namoff 7, Janicki 6, John 6; McTavish 7, Jacobson 6, Wallace 5.5, Khumalo 6, Fred 5.5; Moreno 6.5, N'Silu 5. Subs: Pontius 5, DiRaimondo 5, Gomez 5.

• BDR's summary, with some extra added Fred-bashing:

What's amazing to me is in watching these three Germantown games, division 1, 2, and 3 defenders are far less impressed with Fred than some MLS defenders - they watch him do his samba over the ball, then take it from him.

• Unitedmania's game recap.

Let's consider DCU's starting lineup for a moment . . . .

Before the match the official site had the players lined up as follows:

                           1 - Kocic
             3 - John  —– 16 - Janicki  —  26 - Namoff
7 - Fred  —– 22 - Wallace  —– 8 - Jacobson  —– 18 - McTavish
                        17 - Khumalo
               9 - N'Silu  —– 99 - Moreno

This is entirely mystifying based on what we know of the players and the lineups Soehn has trotted out to date. Khumalo is not exactly, er, effective all the time, and putting him in the playmaker role seems daft, given that Moreno was starting and could easily occupy the #10 spot.  Or, how about playing Fred as #10, where he has played well in the past?

McTavish on the side of the midfield instead of Wallace is also something of a headscratcher, but less so because both players have shown before they aren't terrible in those positions. However, is it me or does McTavish seem to play better as a defensively oriented midfielder, and Wallace with his speed down the line makes for a more potent attacking force that streches the opposition and creates space for the center-of-park guys to play?

This would have seemed to be a sensible formula to go with in order to unlock the bunkering Rhinos, but what do I know?

As it turns out, the Khumalo experiment in the center ended pretty quickly, and after he and Fred switched places United's overall play, by all accounts, improved. Although United had all the possession in the first half, against the bunkering Rochester squad United struggled to do anything productive. Eventually it would be a Moreno PK that put the black-and-red ahead. Here, one would expect a team with United's pedigree to shut the game down and hold out for a win, but this was not to be.

The game opened up in the second half, and Rochester got back into it. Rochester's Darren Kenton suffered a serious ankle injury after a challenge by  John DiRaimondo. Reports about whether the challenge was dirty are mixed, but "beloved" (that was sarcasm) referee Abby Okulaja did not see fit to award a foul. Said the Rochester coach:

I don't feel as though we were beaten by D.C. We were beaten by an official," he said. "And certainly when players break ankles like [Kenton] did and there's no yellow cards or [ejections], it really hurts. . . . An absolutely disgraceful challenge, even more disgraceful that nothing was done about it. There was intent to win the ball, granted, but he creamed him.

Later, shortly after scoring the winning goal, Boyzzz Khumalo suffered a broken wrist after being struck by the ball. Hope he gets better soon

United's foe for the final will be Seattle, and the game has the potential to be a blast. Let's hope United shows up ready to play.

Got Gridlock?

I'd have loved to come out to the game, but work and the inevitable traffic mess made doing so unfeasible. The folks in charge of finding United a new stadium site should take note. Finding a location compatible with the region's suffocating traffic congestion is essential. The distant Virginia suburbs should be ruled out for this reason, although I can't believe that they could ever have seriously been ruled in. Even a downtown Silver Spring site may not be the optimum choice, given how tedious it can be to get there from most of the suburbs. Of course, at this point the team is probaly not thinking in terms of "optimum" choices any more.

It's a shame about the Soccerplex, which is a perfectly fine and intimate venue when you get there, but attendance of 2,457 for last night's game, albeit on a weeknight, it should stand as a warning for future plans.