Philadelphia striker Sebastien Le Toux, left, hit a hat trick in histeam’s first ever MLS win — and sent United crashing to 0-3.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Union 3, United 2: Your roving DCist sports editor was in Philadelphia last night, checking out the scene at MLS’ first regular season game in the city of Brotherly Love. My first impression? No one should doubt that United fans can move with the best of them. Bolstered by nearly 1,000 United supporters who made the trek to Philadelphia, folks in black and red overtook yours truly’s section of the parking lot. (Lot 8 North, anyone?) After entering the park, United’s famously vocal fans were shoved way up into the upper echelon of roomy Lincoln Financial Field — their singing and chanting not muffled by the elevated location, but rather the French striker who preyed on their charges all night. Sebastien Le Toux struck early and often for the expansion Union, taking advantage of some awful United marking to head in the first home goal in Union history at the third minute mark. The former Seattle Sounder then added another two at forty and eighty minutes to complete his hat trick, pushing the Union and a soccer-crazed crowd into a joyous rapture.
United finally got on the board in the second half, breaking a 243-minute stretch of scoreless football to open the season. Santino Quaranta realized that you could put the ball into the back of the net by, you know, shooting, curling a hit past Chris Seitz in the 63rd minute to break the drought. Jaime Moreno then picked up a fluky — or wily, depending on your viewpoint — goal after Seitz whiffed at a dropkick. But Le Toux settled matters with a low curling shot that beat the wall and fooled Perkins after Dejan Jakovic was sent off for what seemed, from my elevated position, a fifty-fifty call. To be fair, it was a game that the undisciplined D.C. (six yellow cards and the sending off) had little business being in, though they certainly tried.
While the result was not what the traveling supporters had hoped for, the atmosphere (with the understanding that in Philadelphia’s soon-to-be-completed soccer specific stadium, the visiting fans will be situated on the lower level) and rivalry is sure to only grow better and better with time. As for United’s 0-3 start? Well, that’s certainly not going to grow on anyone.
Nationals 4, Mets 3: The Nationals bullpen: back in our good graces! Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps combined for four scoreless innings and made John Lannan’s five innings of six-hit ball stand up against the Mets. Despite only registering five hits, the Nationals got two timely knocks from Willie Taveras in the second and the fourth innings to put up their four runs; the pen took care of the rest.
Hawks 105, Wizards 95: The Wiz matched Atlanta for three quarters, but were undone by Jamal Crawford’s 28 points off the bench, including the three that kick-started a crucial 11-0 Hawk run in the fourth. Crawford scored 23 of his 28 in the second half, as Atlanta continued its winning streak against Washington — the Hawks haven’t lost to the Wizards since January 2008.
