In the dying seconds of D.C. United’s rain-soaked match against the Montreal Impact at RFK Stadium on Saturday, Conor Doyle and Jared Jeffrey found themselves in alone on goal, with only Impact goalkeeper Troy Perkins to beat.
Doyle, formerly of the English team Derby County, drew out Perkins and calmly pushed the ball across the box to his teammate. Jeffrey tapped the ball into the empty net, sealing a rare United victory.
It was a goal made more special by the players involved in it. Doyle and Jeffrey, once young teammates with the Dallas Texans, were both highly regarded prospects whose European careers never quite took off. On Saturday, they took a promising first step for their new club, both contributing goals in United’s 3-1 drubbing of Montreal.
“We kind of turned to each other and laughed, and he said, ‘Thank you,’” Doyle said. “I was always squaring it. He just played 90 minutes and ran that far, I wasn’t going to let him not score.”
Added Jeffrey: “I was little worried that he was going to shoot it, being the center forward he is. I had to thank him, let’s be honest.”
Doyle, who tapped in a cross from James Riley for United’s second goal, was joined by midfielder Luis Silva on the scoresheet. Silva used yet another moment of individual flair and creativity to get United on the board at the 19-minute mark, notching his third goal in as many games.
United’s goals came from three players who have been with the club for less than a month, acquired as part of an effort to rebuild a sinking franchise. Head coach Ben Olsen slotted in Silva as a withdrawn forward behind veteran Dwayne De Rosario, and the pairing seemed to do wonders throughout an opening half that saw United dominant on both sides of the ball. It was easily DeRo’s most energetic, active half of football this season, a distant throw from the easily discouraged player he becomes when paired with Lionard Pajoy or Carlos Ruiz.
Montreal, which has cooled off recently since a blistering start to the season, never looked threatening. The Impact’s only positive moment came during a lovely exchange between defender Jeb Brovsky and teammate Davy Arnaud, resulting in their only goal of the night to tie the match in the early minutes of the second half.
For Olsen, this match couldn’t have gone any better. United’s coach was able to manage minutes ahead of Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup semifinal, swapping out De Rosario, Silva, and midfielder Nick Deleon with time to spare in the second half. The substitutes—Doyle, Sainey Nyassi, and Chevy Chase, Md. native Collin Martin— all made near-immediate impacts.
“It was one of those nights where everything you wanted to get out of the game happened,” Olsen said. “All three of them put in really good shifts—obviously Doyle with the goal and the assist, but Nyassi gave us a real spark. Collin was really fun to watch, too. For a youngster getting into a tough game late, I thought he was very composed and it was just fun to see him out there.”
The win does little for United’s league prospects, as the black and red remain on course to set all-time records for lowest points and goals per game. What it does do is build chemistry and confidence ahead of the Open Cup match which is their most important fixture to date. Despite having the worst record in Major League Soccer (3-15-4), United find themselves only 180 minutes away from hoisting their third Open Cup title.
“Coach was talking about getting into a good rhythm and having a winning mentality,” Jeffrey said. “I think it’s a great thing for us to experience winning and gain confidence going into a mid-week game.”
Game Notes: Despite the return of regular starter Bill Hamid, who left United for for the U.S. men’s national team during the recent Gold Cup, Olsen stuck with Joe Willis in goal on Saturday night, and he was quick to note why. “Joe got us into the Open Cup semifinals and I’m going to play him on Wednesday,” Olsen said. “I’ll tell you right now. It has nothing to do against Bill and the faith that we have in him. I wanted to get Joe one more game going into Wednesday.” Expect Hamid to regain his starting spot Saturday evening in Philadelphia … Chris Pontius, Carlos Ruiz, Lionard Pajoy, Marcelo Saragosa, John Thorrington, Casey Townsend, Lewis Neal, and Michael Seaton all sat out the game with injuries. Olsen expects Thorrington, who’s been a rock in the middle since his acquisition earlier in the year, to be fit and ready for Wednesday.
