United Squeak By Amateur Side in Open Cup
It was a night where one would be hard-pressed to call United's 2-0 victory over the amateur Ocean City Barons at the Maryland SoccerPlex undeserved. It took a penalty kick, a mishandle by the goalkeeper, some kind woodwork, and a some spectacular efforts from Milos Kocik to get by a team consisting of collegiate players, an elementary school teacher, a civil engineer, and a youth soccer coach. You can probably forgive the few United supporters in attendance for sweating a bit.
In cup football as in life, though, all's well that ends well.
To be fair, this match was as big as it was going to get for the small Jersey shore club from the Premier Development League. It was obvious that the Ocean City players realized that this was probably going to be the biggest match of their lives -- and they played like it, providing consistent effort and plenty of heart. Placing ten men behind the ball for most of the match, the Barons constantly frustrated United, who, albeit possessing the ball for long stretches of time, couldn't create anything of note on net.
How bad did Ocean City want it? Barons manager Neil Holloway had to be removed from the field of play by police after he was red carded for dissent early in the second half. (Now there's passion for you.)
It was a testament to the Barons' play when Christian Gomez entered the game in the second half. The club had obviously hoped to save some legs for their upcoming Fourth of July league match at Columbus, giving players like Boyzzz Khumalo, John DiRaimondo, Andrew Jacobson and Brandon Barklage the start. But as the match dragged on, it was obvious that coach Tom Soehn needed a spark. Gomez provided it. Shortly after entering for DiRaimondo, the Argentinean playmaker got past two Barons players and lofted a gorgeous pass into Ange N'Silu's stride toward goal. Although N'Silu didn't make optimal contact, Barons keeper Mouritala Ogunbiyi clattered into the Congolese forward, forcing the referee to award a penalty. Gomez calmly dispatched of the spot kick and United finally got the goal they needed.
But the Black-and-Red were still far from advancing. It became white-knuckle time, as Ocean City discarded their previously conservative tactics for an all-out attack on goal. Kocik provided a couple of big saves in the waning moments and United was fortunate to get some help from the crossbar, as what felt like a series of interminable crosses rained down toward the D.C. goal. Eventually, though, Ocean City made a big mistake -- after a Gomez free kick was badly mishandled by Ogunbiyi, N'Silu was johnny on the spot, poking in the rebound for the two-goal lead and the win. On a rainy evening, United had moved on in a topsy-turvy tournament.
Looking forward, United will play the Harrisburg (Pa.) City Islanders of USL-2 (that's the third tier of American soccer, one step above the Premier Development League) in the quarterfinals of the tournament on July 7 at 7:30 p.m., again at the SoccerPlex. The Islanders upset the New England Revolution 2-1 last night -- in fact, D.C. is the only MLS side to still be standing in their half of the bracket.