D.C. United win first U.S. Open Cup play-in match over FC Dallas

By Chris Hummer, Potomac Soccer Wire Editor

Despite winning the 2008 U.S. Open Cup trophy last summer, D.C. United was not provided an automatic berth to the oldest continuously running tournament in the history of American team sports. The 96-year-old event - open to every U.S. Soccer sanctioned adult men's team, amateur or pro - does not provide for the automatic return entry of the defending champion. Rather, eight total slots are provided for Major League Soccer teams, six of which the league automatically awards to the top six U.S.-based finishers in league play the previous season.

United was not in that top six, and so must defeat two other MLS teams in an MLS-run single-elimination qualification tournament to claim one of the final two spots. Last night at RFK, the Black and Red accomplished win number one, downing FC Dallas 2-0 in front of barely 5,000 fans.

Fielding a mix if rookies and first-year players - a traditional approach for professional teams in their nations' cup competitions in order to provide playing experience to developing youngsters - United sent a clear message to the league that this year's team depth is deeper than it's been in a long time.

"I've said from the beginning [of the 2009 season], we have a very deep team. It's probably one of the deepest teams I've coached", said United boss Tom Soehn after the match. Continuing, "so I have confidence in them because they show me every day [in training]".

The main source of those sincere comments by Soehn must have been the impressive performances from rookies Chris Pontius and Brandon Barklage, while several first-year MLS players and other recent signings also performed well. Six-foot, four-inch rookie goalkeeper Milos Kocic got the nod in goal, and showed well. The Loyola College (MD) star making some key saves, and succeeded in intimidating MLS hit-man Kenny Cooper into hitting the post on a 2nd half penalty kick to preview a shut-out in his first professional game.

The youngsters were anchored by veterans Fred, Bryan Namoff, and Santino Quaranta, who along with their coach must have been comforted knowing an injury rash like the one that derailed them in 2008 won't be nearly as big of a hurdle to overcome should similar circumstances occur.

D.C. will next face the winner of an east-west battle between San Jose and New York to be played April 29th in Santa Clara, California. A win in that match will qualify them for the official 2009 cup, where they'll face a lower division professional team, or possibly even a amateur team on a cinderella run. The tournament will continue throughout the summer, all with mid-week dates. Should United repeat as champions, their reward will be automatic qualification to the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League.

Enjoy the match highlight video - overlaid with radio commentary, as the match was not televised. The box score is below the video.

FC Dallas (1-4-1) vs. D.C. United (2-1-3)
April 22, 2009 -- RFK Stadium

Scoring Summary:
DC -- Fred 1 (Chris Pontius 1) 21
DC -- Brandon Barklage 1 (Santino Quaranta ) 66

FC Dallas -- Ray Burse, Michael Dello-Russo, George John (Aaron Pitchkolan 8), Drew Moor, Daniel Torres, Pablo Ricchetti, Alvaro Sanchez (Bruno Guarda 90), Eric Avila, Dave van den Bergh (David Ferreira 73), Jeff Cunningham (Kenny Cooper 71), Peri Marosevic.

Substitutes Not Used: Dax McCarty, Dario Sala, Blake Wagner

D.C. United -- Milos Kocic, Bryan Namoff (Dejan Jakovic 62), Greg Janicki, Marc Burch, Thabiso Khumalo, Brandon Barklage, Andrew Jacobson, Devon McTavish, Fred (Rodney Wallace 61), Chris Pontius (Jaime Moreno 73), Santino Quaranta (Anthony Peters 82).

Substitutes Not Used: John DiRaimondo, Luciano Emilio, Josh Wicks

Referee: Jeff Gontarek
Referee's Assistants: Jason Cullum; Matthew Kreitzer
4th official: Terrence Andrews
Time of game: 1:49
Attendance: 5,163
Weather: Cloudy -and- 55 degrees