To judge from post game comments by DC United coaches and players you might think the team’s major problem was that they didn’t work hard enough. That description of events doesn’t quite capture what really happened. While Philadelphia may have played marginally harder than DC, the real key was execution. The Union’s was poor and United’s was worse.

As is typical of US Open Cup matches, this one was a war and Philadelphia prevailed. As DC United Coach Ben Olsen put it, “They wanted it, they fought, and it’s just a poor overall execution from the team and myself.”

The intensity of Open Cup matches is especially evident in battles for midfield control and it was there that the Union was stronger. Under siege as soon as they got the ball, United’s players displayed an appalling error rate as passes more often than not found opponent’s feet.

Philadelphia responded in kind, displaying a nearly identical ineptitude in pass completion. The apparent sloppiness in both teams’ offensive efforts may be laid in part to the frenetic play and some actually sharp defending. The desire was there from both teams, the accuracy was not.

Olsen was willing to take some blame, conceding that his own preparation should also be examined, “I’ll look at myself first and our staff first, but we have to realize that that’s not good enough. Too many guys were on their own page today. We were cute all over the field.”

While players made a fair number of runs to open up space or to free themselves to receive passes, the actual passes were usually a few degrees off or just a bit too hard to reach. Most of that is simply a weak response to a hard working opponent and it can only be fixed with well-structured practices and disciplined player attention to the rhythm of the game.

The cliché says that one should work smarter, not harder. In reality, the team that prevails will be the one that works both smarter and harder. Olsen intends to work himself harder to become smarter, and then apply what he learns via good training, “I have to get working harder, and the guys are certainly going to work harder.”

He considers the result as a wakeup call, “All the little things that got us success up to this point – we forgot about tonight. There were signs that we were forgetting about that over the last couple games and we have been squeaking by. Tonight we didn’t squeak by and it’s a good thing.”

Midfielder Perry Kitchen agrees with him, “Our last few games we were kind of dying down. This can end up being a good thing for us because we have to realize that we aren’t where we want to be at, and if we don’t play well, we’re going to lose.”

It all comes down to whether Olsen learns the right things, applies them in hard training, and thereby helps his players play both smarter and harder. He can count on one thing; his next opponent, the Philadelphia Union (at Philadelphia on June 16th), will be working just as hard. Peter Nowak saw the same game and knows that his own players will need to execute better.

Nearly every DC United player collapsed to the soggy RFK Stadium turf at the final whistle knowing that their 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers was not good enough to keep their playoff hopes alive. To their credit, United left everything they had on the field as a dramatic but often maddening push throughout the second half got the equalizer but was simply not good enough to forge the home side ahead.

“It’s funny; it was basically my pre-game speech. Let’s go down swinging; let’s show the people that we are completely committed out there and we’ll need to push it to the limit to get this result,” said United Head Coach Ben Oslen.

United will now miss the playoffs for a club-record fourth consecutive year.

Dwayne De Rosario, with his right ankle heavily taped and noticeably limping after being kicked in the first half, scored his league leading 16th goal of the season for a brilliant equalizer in the 73rd minute after Kenny Cooper had given the Timber the lead with an easy header in the 24th minute.

“It was disheartening. It is but it isn’t in the sense that we showed some fight,” De Rosario said. “Yeah it was basically both teams having chances at the end. We definitely had some great opportunities, and if we had a little more hunger and a little more fight, we finish those chances. Those are things we really need how to learn – to commit to that final ball and get your body behind it.”

After taking a good ball from Josh Wolff, De Rosario drifted to left side of the penalty area, took a turn and beat former United goalkeeper Troy Perkins with a definitive strike to the near post.

“If Dwayne De Rosario doesn’t get MVP of the League there’s something wrong. Plain and simple,” said Timbers coach John Spencer, who coached De Rosario during his time as an assistant in Houston. “For the last three months of the season since he came here he’s been the best player in the League by far – a country mile. He needs to win MVP.”

United thought they had what would surely have been a season saving goal in the 89th minute but Blake Brettschneider header was disallowed when he was correctly ruled to be in an offside position. Perkins came out to play the original shot and ended up going past Brettschneider thus leaving just one defender as the cross was played in.

Cooper’s goal was much simpler, as he slipped between McDonald and Ethan White to nod home an equally simple but perfect cross from another former United player, Rodney Wallace, from the left flank.

Regardless of the implications, the game was apparently destined to be played in wet conditions. The match was originally scheduled for August 25 but was postponed due to Hurricane Irene and on this day, a steady rain all day drenched the Washington metropolitan area but stopped shortly before kickoff.

Despite United’s comprehensive attacking posture with De Rosario playing behind Josh Wolff and Charlie Davies, neither team managed to create more than a half chance through the first 20 plus minutes with one exception. McDonald rifled a header just over the bar off a Santino Quaranta corner kick that disturbed the netting enough to cause an unfounded roar from the home crowd in the 10th minute.

Andy Najar made a strong run with his usual touch of flair down the left flank in the 34th minute, but his right footed shot targeted for the near post from inside the penalty area was not equal to the quality of the run.

Quaranta had an even better opportunity in the 42nd minute but that also went awry. After a strong cut back dribble around Lovel Palmer at the top left corner of the penalty area, his left footed attempt across the face of the goal somehow bounced over the extended foot of a charging Wolff and then skidded just wide of the far post.

But the real drama and thrills did not come until after the break.

“It was a bit of a blur those last 20-30 minutes, and the whole second half,” said Oslen. “But I am extremely proud of the guys tonight – I can’t believe nobody scored down that stretch. The amount of chances that were going on was pretty remarkable. I have to look at it, but it seems that we had the better ones. It just wasn’t our night. Troy [Perkins] came off with a couple of saves, and they did well to put their bodies in front of us on some and we didn’t do well with some finishes as well.”

Knowing it needed a goal quickly in the second half, United formulated significant stretches of coordinated attack but could not find the final idea or execute the final ball to get through Portland’s solid defensive structure.

When White’s lay off for De Rosario in the penalty area was woefully off the mark, the Timbers counter nearly produced the sure clincher in the 60th minute but Kalif Alhassan’s late-contested whistler from the top of the box went just wide of the right post.

Shortly thereafter, hobbling or not, De Rosario muscled his way around a much bigger Mamadou Danso but as another defender closed down the space, he got bumped and fell to the turf but not enough for referee Jair Marrufo to point to the penalty spot.

“It felt like a schoolyard game at the end,” said Quaranta. “Every time we got the ball going forward I felt like it was going to be a chance to score.”

Portland thought they had the go ahead goal just seconds later but Brian Umony’s attempt from close range hit under the crossbar and came straight down but clearly did not cross the goal line.

Umony scampered into the penalty area uncontested seconds later but Bill Hamid came up with a tremendous save to keep United’s hopes alive in the 85th minute. Hamid made an even better reflex save a minute later to deny Bright Dike who fired from with in a crowd but straight away from 14-yards.

In extra time, De Rosario beat Perkins to a bouncing ball but his shot toward the open net was blocked by an alert Eric Brunner.

De Rosario sent another ball across the face of the goal seconds later that Joseph Ngwenya got onto but his foot was clipped by a Portland defender and the weakened result was knocked away by Perkins and Blake Brettschneider’s desperate follow up was blocked.

United will conclude this year’s efforts against conference co-leader Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

Scoring Summary:
POR — Kenny Cooper 8 (Rodney Wallace 2) 24
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 16 (Josh Wolff 7) 73

Portland Timbers — Troy Perkins, Lovel Palmer, Eric Brunner, Mamadou Danso, Rodney Wallace (Mike Chabala 79), Eric Alexander (Brian Umony 63), Jack Jewsbury, Diego Chara, James Marcelin, Kalif Alhassan, Kenny Cooper (Bright Dike 84).

Substitutes Not Used: David Horst, Jorge Perlaza, Steve Purdy, Jake Gleeson.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb, Ethan White (Joseph Ngwenya 89), Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard (Austin Da Luz 71), Andy Najar, Perry Kitchen, Santino Quaranta, Charlie Davies (Blake Brettschneider 51), Dwayne De Rosario, Josh Wolff.

Substitutes Not Used: Stephen King, Kurt Morsink, Clyde Simms, Joe Willis.

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Brandon McDonald (caution; Tactical Foul) 58
POR — Bright Dike (caution; Reckless Foul) 85
DC — Austin Da Luz (caution; Reckless Foul) 90

Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee’s Assistants: -C.J. Morgante; Frank Anderson
4th Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Rain-and-68-degrees
Attendance: 14,317

DC United scored twice, for them in the unlikeliest of fashion, but in what has become the painful story of this season, couldn’t close the game out, squandering a two goal lead to settle for a 2-2 draw with Chivas USA at cool but soggy RFK Stadium Wednesday night.

Juan Pablo Angel continued to haunt United regardless of the shirt he wears, scoring twice in the second half to bring the game to level terms after United extended a first half lead just a few minutes into the second half.

“There is a mentality to this game right now that some of our guys don’t have. You have to have it for 90-minutes and you have to have it game-in-and-game-out and we don’t have it. Part of it is youth and part of it is complacency.

“It’s the way we fade in and out of games as a group, the way we take breaks; it’s the reason why we haven’t won two games in a row in three years. It’s a mentality that after you do well then it’s okay now and we can afford to let down.”

United have not won consecutive league matches since early June of 2009, a span of over 70-matches, and those also represent the last successive home wins as well.

United (8-8-11, 35 points) not only frittered away this game but an opportunity to leapfrog New York (7-7-15, 36 points) in the tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff race, as the Red Bulls were dumped at home by Real Salt Lake.

“I don’t know if we should have been up 2-0 but we were and to tie that game is absolutely ridiculous,” Olsen continued.

Chivas had lost four in a row coming into the match and are now winless in their last seven games. United pounded Chivas 3-0 in at Home Depot Center just 11 days earlier but this was not the same team that United faced that night.

Dwayne De Rosario scored his 10th goal of the season with a rare header to give United the lead in the 39th minute with Ethan White adding another in a seemingly rarer fashion, off a corner, to give United a two goal cushion shortly after halftime.

De Rosario was awarded a less than deserved penalty kick to possibly win the game in the 93rd minute but in what could be deemed poetic justice or just plain fair, the kick was saved by goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.

As De Rosario was aiming to get onto a weakly floated ball into the penalty area, Angel barely got his hand on the back of the Canadian international. When De Rosario flopped to the turf, Referee Chris Penso bit, and pointed to the spot for the late game gift.

In the first half, De Rosario had snuck through a crowd of players to nod home Andy Najar’s free kick after Jorge Flores carelessly handled the ball just outside the top right corner of the penalty to give United the lead.

Other than an early deflected shot by Marcos Mondaini that challenged United keeper Bill Hamid, the goal was the most compelling moment in an otherwise listless first half where neither team looked ambitious enough to take hold of the match or worthy of a playoff spot.

Chivas had been very diligent in quickly double teaming any United player that received the ball in a dangerous position.

“We played like boys and not just the second half; I thought in the first half we played soft,” said Olsen. “We are up 2-0 and we think the game is easy; we think we don’t have to tackle, we don’t have to win second balls, let’s just roll the dice and hope we get lucky. It’s absolutely gonna stop, it has to stop or we will not be going to make the playoffs it’s that simple.”

On United’s second goal, De Rosario got into another good spot, flicking a short range shot that Kennedy did well to get flare out his right hand and knock away. But no one bothered to mark Ethan White on the follow up and he knocked it home with authority to make the score 2-0.

Charlie Davies had a good chance to tack on another one and possibly put the game out of reach in the 53rd minute with a left footer from a step right of the penalty spot but Kennedy was well positioned to deflect it away to safety.

“When it’s 2-0 in the second half you have to take those opportunities to kill off the game whether it’s getting that third goal or shoring up things around the field and we lost that urgency on the defensive end after we got that two goal lead and thinking it was going to be a little easier to close out the game,” said Josh Wolff.

“We have to do the little bit of extra work that closes the game down and makes it difficult for the other team. There is a lot that goes into that but at that point, our general makeup has to play with a little more bite, a little more urgency and not give anything away.”

United were duly punished for sloppy coverage in the 58th minute by one of the great finishers in MLS history. Angel easily beat Perry Kitchen to a simple, and uncontested, cross from Nick LaBrocca at the right edge of the penalty area to draw one back for Chivas.

Brandon McDonald had slipped on the wet turf, giving LaBrocca plenty of time of time and space to deliver the fruitful ball across the face of the goal.

Angel corralled Ante Jazic’s bouncing ball from the left side, took a step inside and blasted home a relatively easy finish from 8-yards for a player of his caliber to bring the game to level terms in the 69th minute.

Laurent Courtois nearly stole a win for the visitors but Hamid neatly blocked the Frenchman’s left footed shot from 13-yards after the Frenchmen inexcusably got behind Kitchen for a semi-break away in the 85th minute.

“I haven’t seen consistent, game after game, high level performances. It’s there – the talent is there, but talent is not enough. I have been on terrible teams that have won games because we had guys that would do anything – anything – to win a game,” said Olsen.

“And that means if they are tired, if they lose the ball, they don’t stop. If you have to run 40 yards as hard as you can to tackle or to help a teammate, you do it. And that part is missing, and it has got to stop.

“I don’t know necessarily how to instill it right now but certainly I am going to do my best to try and instill it.”

DC United had not won a league home game since May 4th and Toronto FC had not won a road game since defeating United in last year’s finale. So something had to give as the two squared off in the humid and heavy air of RFK Stadium on Saturday, right? Nope. Not this year.

The 3-3 draw was a combination of each team’s altruistic ways and a heavy dose of unwanted chaos and drama. Dwayne De Rosario scored all three of United’s goals including the game tying goal on a penalty in the 88th minute that preceded 8-minutes of stoppage time and an earlier chaotic substitution situation that led directly to Toronto’s second equalizing goal.

“I don’t know what just happened,” said United Coach Ben Olsen, who did not want to discuss the substitution incident. “It was a pretty eventful game…Dwayne DeRosario should be the story and the heart of that group out there that got (jobbed) every which way tonight, didn’t get a call all night but they found a way to get a point and should have been three.”

De Rosario has scored all of United’s goals (6) over their last five games and with tonight’s tallies, he has scored against all three of his former teams (New York, San Jose, and Toronto) that United have played since his arrival.

The impending drama started just 7-minutes into the match and altered the game significantly as United goalkeeper Bill Hamid was ejected for a wild and reckless challenge on Eric Avila. With Avila’s last touch a bit heavy on a run down the right flank, Brandon McDonald had already cleared the ball away when Hamid inexplicably slid out with his legs slightly up, flipping the recently acquired midfielder head over heels and hard to the turf.

After briefly consulting with the Assistant Referee directly in front of the play, referee Jasen Anno decided to dismiss the young goalkeeper.

“The initial play with Bill is not good enough. We made a meal of that play and we have to learn that that play hurts everybody. It kills the game and makes the guys do a lot of work,” Olsen said. “It’s too early in the game and we have to be tuned in every play whether it’s three minutes in or late. That play haunted us.”

Steve Cronin came on to man the pipes and midfielder Stephen King was removed. With the recent run of injuries among the forwards and players logging heavy minutes, including DeRosario, Olsen certainly did not want to use a substitute that early.

With Santino Quaranta making his first appearance since May 14 and the nagging left hamstring injury to Josh Wolff, the early red card put Olsen immediately in the trick bag. Austin Da Luz did come in for Wolff in the 60th minute but Quaranta played the full 90 despite Olsen’s intentions to limit those minutes.

“No,” said Olsen if he planned on playing Quaranta the entire match. “We didn’t know how long he could go so obviously making the early change postpones that second and third change especially when you are playing down a man.”

Regardless of the manpower situation, United took the lead as the rain had just started to fall in the 19th minute. DeRosario received a simple free kick from Quaranta, took one touch and cut loose a right footed blast from 25-yards out that got through Stefan Frei and into the upper left corner to give United the unexpected lead.

As the half progressed however, United settled at least eight, and often nine, men behind the ball in hopes of shutting the game down and getting into the break with the lead.

Toronto got the break they were looking for in the 52nd minute when Cronin’s punch of an Ashtone Morgan cross from the left flank deflected off McDonald to an unmarked Peri Marosevic, who tapped the ball into the wide open net to equalize.

De Rosario was the beneficiary of Tornoto’s Andy Iro’s benevolence, gifting United the lead again in the 64th minute. Iro let a dreadful Chris Pontius cross from the right flank skip right through his legs at the edge of the penalty area directly to DeRosario, who simply stepped around a committed Frei and slotted it home for a 2-1 United advantage.

The lead did not last long however as Toronto equalized on a goal similar to DeRosario’s first goal in the 70th minute but off a throw-in. Second half substitute Julian de Guzman took a simple ball from Morgan, near where Quaranta delivered the ball to DeRosario, and hit a right footed shot that Cronin got his hands on as well, and probably should have knocked away, that slipped into the left corner.

“It kind of dances all over the place on me and got by. That one I definitely regret,” said Cronin. “He hit a knuckle ball and if it’s wet at all, this ball does a lot of funny things. It’s a ball I should save.”

Prior to the throw-in however, drama gave way to chaos when Ethan White, a United defender, was coming on for the cramping McDonald. White was apparently waved on by Anno, who allowed play to continue without giving White ample time to get properly and fairly situated in a reasonable position. A boiling and incensed Olsen was subsequently excused from the bench after a vociferous tirade aimed at the referee.

“The play has to stop on a sub. It was unbelievable,” said White. “The fourth official is screaming at him to stop play and I just sprinted on the field because play hasn’t stopped. I took it upon myself to run on the field and by the time I took three steps the ball was already in the back of the net.”

“These are the decisions that continually impact games. I’ve never seen a referee ever flag on a sub without blowing the whistle and stopping the play and letting the defender get into his position,” added De Rosario. “I definitely didn’t hear a whistle and you could tell by our reaction we didn’t hear a whistle. You wait for a defender to get into his position — that’s just sportsmanlike and he (Anno) didn’t.”

It was Cronin’s turn to reciprocate the benevolence as he let a harmless bouncing ball get through his legs to give Toronto a surprising 3-2 lead in the 86th minute. Danny Koevermans took the innocuous shot and was given credit for the goal but the ball took a subtle deflection off Iro standing near the top of the 6-yard box.

Toronto’s lead lasted all of two minutes however as Da Luz broke free in the penalty area and was knocked down by Iro for the penalty. De Rosario easily converted the kick to get United back to level terms.

De Rosario could have capped the final scene of the night with a shocking game winner a few seconds later as he collected a long Cronin punt, took on a Toronto defender before playing it inside to the onrushing Pontius, who was taken down at the top of the box leaving the fans hoping for another penalty. After the penalty was rightfully denied however, De Rosario collected the loose ball only to have his low shot skitter just wide of the far post.

Scoring Summary:
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 7 (Santino Quaranta 1) 19
TOR — Peri Marosevic 2 (unassisted) 52
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 8 (Chris Pontius 3) 64
TOR — Julian de Guzman 1 (Ashtone Morgan 1) 69
TOR — Danny Koevermans 3 (Joao Plata 4) 86
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 9 (penalty kick) 88

Toronto FC — Stefan Frei, Richard Eckersley (Matt Stinson 51), Doneil Henry (Peri Marosevic 46), Andy Iro, Ashtone Morgan, Torsten Frings, Eric Avila, Terry Dunfield (Julian de Guzman 55), Joao Plata, Danny Koevermans, Ryan Johnson.

Substitutes Not Used: Danleigh Borman, Ty Harden, Eddy Viator, Milos Kocic.

TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Joao Plata 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Danny Koevermans 2, Joao Plata 2); FOULS: 12 (Andy Iro 3); OFFSIDES: 4 (4 tied with 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Joao Plata 3); SAVES: 5 (Stefan Frei 5)

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Dejan Jakovic, Brandon McDonald (Ethan White 69), Daniel Woolard, Santino Quaranta, Stephen King (Steve Cronin 9), Clyde Simms, Chris Pontius, Dwayne De Rosario, Josh Wolff (Austin Da Luz 60).

Substitutes Not Used: Brandon Barklage, Blake Brettschneider, Marc Burch, Charlie Davies.

TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Dwayne De Rosario 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Dwayne De Rosario 4); FOULS: 6 (Dwayne De Rosario 2, Santino Quaranta 2); OFFSIDES: 4 (Dwayne De Rosario 3); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Santino Quaranta 3); SAVES: 4 (Steve Cronin 4)

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Bill Hamid (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 7
DC — Dwayne De Rosario (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 79

Referee: Jasen Anno
Referee’s Assistants: -Brian Poeschel; Bill Dittmar
4th Official: Andrew Chapin
Attendance: 11,684
Time of Game: 1:56
Weather: Cloudy-and-84-degrees

It was a familiar picture show with DC United and the New England Revolution Wednesday night at RFK Stadium. The Revolution absorbed some moderate pressure but never really broke as United held the ball for most of the first half. United had some good chances, mainly from the outside, that they couldn’t finish, goalkeeper Matt Reis made some excellent, timely saves, the Revolution subsequently counter, and lo and behold, they score on a set piece.

As United dithered away chance after chance in the first half, including a missed penalty that would have significantly opened up the match, only to see the scourge of their season rise up to bite them again. Stephen McCarthy nodded home a Kenny Mansally corner in the 73rd minute as United dropped a dispiriting 1-0 decision to the bottom team in the Eastern Conference.

“They sit back, Reis comes up with some big saves and they score on a set piece,” said United midfielder Chris Pontius. “It was one lapse but it shouldn’t come down to that. It was one of those nights where we don’t finish and if we do finish we can dictate the game from there. McCarthy gets into one and they are allowed to sit (back) the rest of the game.”

This was the Revolution’s first road win of the season and their first win of any sort since a 1-0 win over Portland on May 14, snapping a nine game winless streak in league play.

“It’s a tough one to take because of the opportunities we had early to put this one away. If you don’t do that; we’ve all seen this script, right? In the second half, they think they got through a half, and a new lease on life and then they get a set-piece goal and that’s what they do. It’s the one thing they are dangerous with and they punished us with that,” said United coach Ben Olsen.

After DC controlled the ball for most of the first half, Charlie Davies missed a penalty kick after Pat Phelan handled the ball in the box in the 44th minute that could have given United a deserved lead going into the break.

After both teams took the first quarter hour to get used to the heat, United garnered three good chances in succession but came up empty.

Dwayne De Rosario cut back into the middle from the left flank and cut loose a bender from 23-yards out that missed just high after some nice combination work from Pontius and Josh Wolff in the 16th minute.

A minute later, Davies cut into the left side of the box and tried to sneak a low shot past Reis on the short side but the veteran keeper was better, getting down quickly to get his right hand on the ball to knock it away.

Reis denied United again a minute after that chance, extending hard to his left this time to knock away a De Rosario shot from 18-yards out that was labeled for the inside corner.

Zak Boggs had New England’s first legitimate chance in the 32nd minute, scorching a volley off a bouncing ball at the top of the penalty arch that bent around two United defenders before Bill Hamid knocked it to safety with a good reflex save.

New England nearly capitalized on a sloppy pass out of the back by United in the 38th minute, and after one quick ball, Rajko Lekic was through but foiled near the penalty spot by an alert Brandon McDonald. Hamid alertly foiled another chance seconds later, coming off his line to knock a high floater away in a violent collision with the Danish striker near the top of the box.

On the penalty, Phelan jumped wildly to block a Josh Wolff cross from the goal line just outside of the right post and the ball struck him under his extended right arm drawing referee Michael Kennedy to point to the spot. Davies stepped up and missed badly, high and wide to the right.

By all rights, the Revolution should have taken the lead in the 64th minute as Phelan played a superb ball into the 6-yard box from the right flank that Zack Schilawski extended to get his head on but knocked slightly wide of the far post.

De Rosario’s driving run into the box in the 81st minute could have equalized for United but Reis came up large again, flicking away the short side, close quarters effort with a great foot save.

“We put a good effort in for the first forty-five (minutes) and the goal didn’t come, and then physically we tanked. I was disappointed we didn’t get through it a little bit more and find a way to get a result,” Olsen said.

“Again, you get these summer games where you go back and forth, you give up chances, you get chances – New England did well with one of them, and we didn’t do well with any of ours.”

Scoring:

NE — Stephen McCarthy 2 (Chris Tierney 2) 73

New England Revolution — Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Ryan Cochrane (Darrius Barnes 22), A.J. Soares, Chris Tierney, Shalrie Joseph, Stephen McCarthy, Pat Phelan, Zak Boggs (Sainey Nyassi 58), Zack Schilawski (Kenny Mansally 68), Rajko Lekic.

Substitutes Not Used: Franco Coria, Diego Fagundez, Ryan Guy, Bobby Shuttleworth.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard, Andy Najar, Dwayne De Rosario, Clyde Simms (Joseph Ngwenya 79), Chris Pontius (Austin Da Luz 71), Charlie Davies, Josh Wolff (Fred 63).

Substitutes Not Used: Stephen King, Chris Korb, Kurt Morsink, Steve Cronin.

Misconduct:

NE — Kenny Mansally (caution; Delaying a Restart) 77

Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee’s Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry; Bill Dittmar
4th Official: Jose Carlos Rivero

Attendance: 15,597
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-91-degrees

For the second consecutive week, DC United gave up a late goal at home to squander a lead and settle for another draw at home in what is becoming the theme of the 2011 season. Philadelphia’s Carlos Ruiz scored in the 84th minute to bring the Union to level terms 2-2, in what was an evenly played match for most of the night at steamy RFK Stadium.

“You gotta fight through the whole game and finish games off. There is no excuse to lose a game in the last 10-minutes. Well, tie, but it feels like a loss,” said United defender Ethan White.

United newcomers Dwayne DeRosario and Brandon McDonald both started and played the full 90-minutes and both were immediately influential. DeRosario had just one solid training session leading up to the match but was impactful from the onset, garnering the main assist on Josh Wolff’s goal to give United a 1-0 lead in the 44th minute..

United are now winless in their last five matches, including four draws and have only won once at home (2-2-5) since beating Columbus in their opening match of the season.

“It is obviously disappointing to tie again, and it hurts a little bit more because it was the second one (in a row at home),” said United coach Ben Olsen. “But putting that aside, we brought two new guys to fit into the team this week, and I thought it was a pretty good game overall.

“It was a pretty entertaining game; it was a little too open I thought because that is what they do well, they counter attack very well.”

The result spoiled a cracker of a goal from Andy Najar that gave United the lead in the 58th minute and an exceptional performance from goalkeeper Bill Hamid. The young goalkeeper extended hard to his left to deny Danny Mwanga from 17-yards out in the 19th minute and stoned a Ruiz header with a reflex save shortly after United took the lead on Najar’s goal in the second half.

Each team generated some half chances in the first quarter hour of the match before the game opened up, perhaps far more than both coaches would have liked, in an evenly played first half.

Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon countered Hamid a minute later with a great save on a Wolff volley from inside the box, banging his head on the post in the process.

Despite the evenness of the half, United took the lead a minute before the break. Najar played the ball into DeRosario’s timely run near the top left corner of the box with former United standout Brian Carroll in pursuit.

DeRosario surged to the goal line, playing a ball around Carroll to a wide open Wolff, who simply redirected the ball with his right foot passed Mondragon from inside the 6-yard box.

“To have an immediate impact like that is good, to get my team ahead. Wolffy is a great poacher, he has a nose for the net. He positioned himself in a great position where he could just tap it in,” said DeRosario. “When you play around the 6-yard box the keeper has to make a decision and he (Wolff) made the run from the back post to the front post and it was a great run.”

Two unfortunate decisions led to the Union’s equalizer in the in the 49th minute. Chris Pontius’s attempted chest pass to a nearby teammate some 25-yards from goal was the first. Veljko Paunovic easily picked up the errant pass and chipped a fairly innocuous ball to the far post where Perry Kitchen’s clumsy clearing attempt deflected off his knee and perfectly into the upper right corner of the net was the second.

In last week’s 2-2 draw with Houston, Brian Ching’s game tying goal skimmed off the head of Kitchen, altering the direction just enough to get by Hamid.

Pontius responded admirably to his miscue two minutes later however, slipping behind the Union backline and getting off a shot that got through Mondragon despite his getting a good piece of it, only to trickle off the far post.

United took the lead back on a tremendous strike from Andy Najar in the 58th minute. Najar picked up the ball near midfield, pushed the ball recklessly through Mwanga’s legs, drifted into the open space in the right channel before cutting loose a right footed shot from 32-yards out that Mondragon got a piece of again, but not enough to keep it from going into the far corner.

“Yeah those are two of them,” said Olsen when asked if he thought maturity and concentration were the reasons for the continuous late game breakdowns. “We gave them more chances than we like at a home game, or any game for that matter.

“We were kind of living on the edge there for stretches; for 20-minutes here we were good and then they would come at us for 15 or 20-minutes. I am pleased with the performance, not pleased with the result.”

Sheanon Williams and Sebastien Le Toux combined beautifully to set up Ruiz’s equalizer. After receiving the ball from midfield, Le Toux played the ball behind Pontius to Williams in stride, who angled quickly into the penalty area, leading the hard charging Ruiz, who beat White to the spot and flicked the ball into the far side netting from a step inside the 6-yard box.

“They catch us back door and I thought over the 90 minutes there were many times when they were right behind us,” said Olsen.

“We have to be savvier on their running off the ball but give them credit – their running off the ball is very good and what they do best. When Ruiz or Le Toux or (Justin) Mapp, when they get the ball, they have other guys flying to try and get in behind (the defense) and they are committed.”

Jamaican goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts showed why he is still one of the best goalkeepers in Major League Soccer Sunday against the United States in their Gold Cup quarter final match at RFK Stadium. He got a great, and probably somewhat expected workout but even he was not good enough to repel the better Americans for an entire match as they finally broke through with a 2-0 win on two second half goals.

The United States will now have a rematch with Panama in the semi-finals at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Wednesday. Panama, who won their group, came from behind to defeat El Salvador 2-1 on penalty kicks in the second match of the day.

United States coach Bob Bradley left Landon Donovan out of the starting eleven after the star returned at 7:30 am this morning from his sister’s wedding the previous day in California.

Clint Dempsey also attended his own sister’s wedding the previous night but returned and played the full 90-minutes while Donovan, who admittedly said he would not have been able to go the full time, came on in the 65th minute.

After the team’s strong day of training on Friday according to Bradley, they put on by far their best performance of the tournament, limiting the spirited and athletic Jamaican side to the occasional direct ball down the line out of the midfield.

With very little else tactically to offer and threaten the American side, the onslaught began about midway through the first half and continued basically the rest of the match.

“I thought we had our best training session so far on Friday; very sharp, good energy, good with the ball, the ball was moving quickly that day,” said Bradley. “That was a good sign and I think some of that came out today.

“We just felt the way they defend that we could play a lot of passes and make their defenders have to make decisions on who they would step to and that our ability to move the ball for 90-minutes would control the game and also create chances.”

“Yeah, no question,” added Donovan when asked if he thought this was his team’s best game in the tournament. “It was complete. We passed the ball well, we defended well, it was enjoyable to watch for 60-minutes on the bench and it was nice to come into as well, the team was flowing well.”

Despite dominating the possession throughout, it took an unfortunate deflection on an attempted block shot for the damn to finally open for the United States in the 49th minute.

“I think we were able to do a good job from the start of establishing control, passing the ball, keeping the ball moving and ultimately it took a while to get the goal and the second goal but in terms of establishing our game today I think we did an excellent job,” said Bradley.

Jermaine Jones’ one timer from 30-yards deflected off the foot of Jermaine Taylor as he attempted to block the shot and skittered past Ricketts who had dived in the other direction. Jamaica had done well to repel yet another strong American flank attack but the original clearance went directly into the path of Jones who took the shot in stride.

With this being his first for the National Team and coming on Father’s Day, he celebrated by rendering a respectable version of a military salute in deference to his father, a U.S. Military service member. Jones, 29, speaks very little English having been born in, and lived most of his life, in Germany after his parents divorced and he moved back to live with his German mother.

“The first time you score for the National Team is always special and even more so that it was a very important goal today and hopefully a few more will come,” said Jones through a translation by Steve Cherundolo. “It was a nice little gift for my father on Father’s day, who is a soldier, it was a nice sign of respect.”

Taylor’s struggles with Jones continued in the 67th minute when the defender hauled Jones down from behind as the last man some 30-yards from goal, earning a straight red card from Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez.

The original attack that led to the goal was a simple continuance of play from the first half for the United States who had no less than eight good opportunities in the last quarter hour of that first stanza highlighted by a bicycle kick by Dempsey from near the penalty spot that went just over the top in the 40th minute.

That was followed a minute later by a header by Alejandro Bedoya, who started in Donovan’s stead until he was replaced, off a nice combination play down the right flank by Cherundolo and Juan Agudelo.

Agudelo came on in the 12th minute for Jozy Altidore who injured his left hamstring a few minutes earlier.

Agudelo followed that chance with a strong low shot from inside the box that Ricketts got down well to save but could only push to the back side, but a clumsy Jones follow up went wide. That was followed two minutes later when Eric Lichaz was sent through with a crafty ball from Michael Bradley that Ricketts got down brilliantly again to knock away.

“We certainly didn’t want to let them play, we wanted to close them down and force them to play long and that is kind of what happened today and when we did recover the ball, we wanted to be bright and made sure they worked hard defensively to get the ball back because any time they spend defending means the less energy they have to go forward and use their physical talents,” Said Cherundolo.

The U.S settled back in to their simple possession game, knocking the ball around on the hot afternoon as Jamaica fervently chased the game.

Clint Dempsey capped the scoring in the 80th minute stepping around the beleaguered Ricketts for an easy tap in off a ball from Juan Agudelo from the right side of the penalty area. Donovan sent the young Agudelo through with an excellent ball thru the back line from the top of the box, drawing the stretched Jamaican defense, allowing an easy ball across to a wide open Dempsey.

“They were pushing us around and we gave (Michael) Bradley too much space and that hurt us,” said Jamaican coach Theodore Whitmore.

The United States played with five in the midfield and one lone striker and Jamaica did not adjust well.

“I think it confused them a little bit and I don’t think Jamaica were ever comfortable. We took them out of what they like to do. In their first three games they had a lot of time to do what they wanted with the ball and we wanted to make sure they didn’t have that and I thought our guys did a really good job with that,” said Donovan.

Wedding Vows Galore

Bob Bradley’s decision to let three of his players, including Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey attend their sister’s weddings was certainly a difficult one but one born from his own experience.

His brother Scott, a back-up catcher for the Chicago White Sox at the time, was set to be the best man at his wedding 25-years ago. However, he was traded to Seattle just before the wedding so a decision had to be made.

“I called him and said, be with your team, your brother Jeff is going to pinch hit for you,” Bradley said.

So despite the potential second guessing, despite his perilous job situation and the fact his team has never finished worse than 3rd in the 11 tournament history of the Gold Cup, he let two of his best players and 3rd goaltender, Brad Guzan, go to these important family functions.

“I’ve never been second guessed,” Bradley joked with veteran New York Times columnist and soccer writer George Vecsey.

“There are times when players come to you with personal requests and as a coach you have an idea of how things should be done and that is especially true in a National Team, you try and hold the bar as high as you can but at the same time understanding them, what family means to them, you have to sometimes weigh things and make decisions.”

Bradley continued on a serious note, “Ultimately after speaking at different points with Landon and Clint, I knew how important both of these days were for them, we were fortunate that we were playing on the 19th and not the 18th because I don’t think they were going to switch the weddings.”

Donovan did not return from California until 7:30 am on Sunday, 7 ½ hours or so before the match while Dempsey returned from Texas the night before. Dempsey played the full 90-minutes and scored the insurance goal in the 80th minute while Donovan came on in the 65th minute to replace Alejandro Bedoya, who was excellent filling in for U.S. talisman.

“It meant a lot to me and Clint. I know we get caught up in the soccer world, but there are things that are equally, if not more important to a lot of us and I am very grateful that Bob and US Soccer made all the efforts to not only let us go, but to get us here so we could contribute today,” said Donovan.

Asked if he could have gone the full 90-minutes? “I would highly doubt it given everything that happened,” said Donovan.

Steven Lenhart wandered through several gazing DC United defenders in the 2nd minute before cutting loose a shot that was saved by goalkeeper Bill Hamid. The whole sequence was a harbinger of things to come.

Lenhart had another shot inside a chaotic United penalty area less than a minute later and scored the first of his three goals on his third shot in the 15th minute as the San Jose Earthquakes raced away to a well deserved 4-2 road victory. Lenhart also assisted on the Earthquakes’ other goal, the game winner, by Simon Dawkins just four minutes into the second half.

“He is a hat trick player if we play the way our defenders did today; so are a lot of players. He’s a handful, make no mistake, he’s a big boy but there are ways to deal with that and we didn’t do it,” said Olsen about Lenhart. “But I give him credit; we got manhandled by a guy who fought every play and we had guys kind of fight but over the ninety minutes he just wore those guys down.”

This marked the fourth time this season that United have given up at least four goals in a match and also the fifth time they have given up a goal within three minutes of scoring one themselves. A bad start to a match has been the precursor to a bad result this year for DC United and though the slow start was short lived; the end result was still the same.

“I think tonight was us thinking that we were a little bit better than we were and maybe it’s a good thing we got punched in the face and knocked down. You got to match the fight and we didn’t early,” said Olsen. “It was very disappointing in the way we went about the game; we looked like young kids. This is going to happen, we have always said that we are going to have games when young kids make mistakes -that I can live with.

“But the lack of commitment and energy that we didn’t show at times was unacceptable. I think we started reading our own press a little bit, everybody thought we were on a roll, so now we don’t have to do what got us a little success – and it’s a little success.”

United used very little width and were sloppy with the ball in the early going but that changed in the 13th minute with an opportunistic and perhaps fortuitous goal by Andy Najar on a ball that wasn’t even intended to come his way.

Josh Wolff played a ball into the penalty area from the right flank that was just out of the reach of Chris Pontius. However, the ball incredibly skittered through three San Jose defenders to the back side where Najar pounced, beating a surprised Jon Busch inside the near post.

United’s good fortune was momentary however as Lenhart collected a Khari Stephenson ball cleanly beating an offside trap, easily dribbled around Hamid, and just as easily knocked a left footed shot into the open goal to bring terms level again just two minutes later.

Those two switched roles in the 22nd minute as Lenhart gobbled up a juicy rebound off a Stephenson shot from the top of the box and knocked it home to give the Earthquakes their first lead. Lenhart instinctively went to goal after laying the ball off to Stephenson, whose shot was saved nicely by Hamid who did not control his rebound effectively however, leaving the sitter just five yards from goal.

“He was good at holding the ball up and making himself dangerous and we didn’t adjust. He’s got a good work rate and we never really figured it out. This league is all about working hard and we got outworked tonight,” added United rookie defender Perry Kitchen.

But not to be outdone on their home park for at least a few moments during the action packed half, Blake Brettschneider drew United even in the 34th minute. He collected a Chris Korb ball with his back to goal at the top of the right side of the penalty, turned Bobby Burling, and slotted a low, left footed shot just inside the near post.

Lenhart was the distributor on the next goal as Dawkins quickly gave the Earthquakes the lead in the second half, beating a helpless Hamid from close range for his fourth goal of the season. Lenhart played a crafty short ball in traffic inside the penalty area that caught Perry Kitchen flat footed and pleading for offides.

“I don’t think we were aggressive enough. We let the guy turn, he plays a 1-2 in our box and we are not covering for each other, all the little things that got us a little bit of success here we didn’t do tonight. It’s pretty simple,” said Olsen.

“We didn’t fix the problems from the first half. There was definitely too much space to work off of each other. Defensively the success for us is not an individual thing but a collective group thing,” said Wolff.

“Tonight it was more of a one v. one match up sometimes and they won too many of those battles throughout the course of the game. We need to get pressure on the ball and move our lines a bit more to make the spaces tighter for their frontrunners. They took advantage of a weak spot for us tonight and they punished us for it.”

United could have equalized six minutes later after a nice sequence of several passes on the right side finally sprung Wolff behind the San Jose back line but his low cross was just out the reach of the sliding Brettschneider inside the six yard box.

Lenhart completed the hat trick in the 59th minute nodding a ball over the late charging Hamid for his fourth goal of the season. A badly mishit ball by Steven Beitashour from the center of the park popped straight into the air but in the vicinity of Lenhart near the top of the box. The burly striker simply flicked a fairly innocuous header backward over Hamid, who had carelessly and inexplicably come off his line.

“You have to realize the importance of each game in this league. San Jose got the message-they came in here and did exactly what we did to LA and Portland,” said United coach Ben Olsen. “They got the message and we didn’t get it and that’s unacceptable and that will change next week.”

Scoring Summary:
DC — Andy Najar 1 (Josh Wolff 2, Clyde Simms 1) 13
SJ — Steven Lenhart 2 (Khari Stephenson 2, Sam Cronin 2) 15
SJ — Steven Lenhart 3 (unassisted) 22
DC — Blake Brettschneider 1 (Chris Korb 2) 34
SJ — Simon Dawkins 4 (Steven Lenhart 2) 49
SJ — Steven Lenhart 4 (Steven Beitashour 2) 60

San Jose Earthquakes — Jon Busch, Steven Beitashour, Bobby Burling, Jason Hernandez, Bobby Convey, Anthony Ampaipitakwong (Brandon McDonald 89), Sam Cronin, Khari Stephenson (Simon Dawkins 48), Brad Ring, Ramiro Corrales, Steven Lenhart.
Substitutes Not Used: Joey Gjertsen, Chris Leitch, Matt Luzunaris, Ellis McLoughlin, Andrew Weber.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb (Brandon Barklage 68), Ethan White, Perry Kitchen, Daniel Woolard (Dax McCarty 78), Andy Najar, Fred, Clyde Simms, Chris Pontius, Blake Brettschneider (Charlie Davies 63), Josh Wolff.
Substitutes Not Used: Stephen King, Joseph Ngwenya, Jed Zayner, Steve Cronin.

Misconduct Summary:
SJ — Brad Ring (caution; Reckless Foul) 87

Referee: Andrew Chapin
Referee’s Assistants: Greg Barkey; Corey Parker
4th Official: Alex Prus
Attendance: 14,105
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-80-degrees

The New England Revolution left nearly all of their starters at home, fielding basically a side of reserve players and back-ups for their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open qualifier against DC United. Regardless, they left the Maryland SoccerPlex with a compelling 3-2 victory behind two goals from Kheli Dube after withstanding a frantic late charge from the home side.

A late United fury was highlighted by a brilliant dribbling sequence around five defenders and into the penalty area by Najar, who fell to the turf in hopes of drawing the penalty which was emphatically denied by referee Jose Carlos Rivero.

“The energy and the fight toward the end was great and exciting but the good teams don’t have to do that. The good teams put all that energy and passion in the beginning of the game so they don’t end up fighting to get a result,” said United Coach Ben Olsen.

The players may have been different but Steve Nicol’s message and structure were exactly the same for New England; stay structured, be physical, wait for United to make enough mistakes and capitalize on those mistakes. And as usual it worked.

“I think we certainly showed more than they did in the first 50 to 60 minutes. It wasn’t great, I don’t think either team was great but we certainly had the ball, we just didn’t simplify things and move the ball side-to-side and just find the open man,” Olsen continued.

“We were just going for killer balls, we struggled a little bit to hold the ball up but again, it is a new group and I thought we were lacking a little bit of energy, a little bit of concentration, that killer instinct in that first 50 to 60 and then we get that second goal and we woke up – and that part is unacceptable.

“Again, the good teams don’t need to wake up, they wake up at the start of the whistle and they are ready to go”, he concluded.

The Revolution got only four shots on goal and legitimately only had six significant forays into United’s end of the park while the game was still in the balance.

United garnered most of the possession throughout the match but whether it was poor touches or the final ball, it was generally disjointed. Branko Boskovic, the best player by far on the park for either side, was their only influential player, getting himself into good spots to collect the ball and distribute but in the end he didn’t get much help.

Boskovic was not on the field for United’s frantic surge however after injuring his left knee on a hard challenge. The preliminary report is a knee contusion and he will have an MRI today.

“That’s what happens when you get whacked over and over. We’re all human, you get that many licks, they start to add up,” said Olsen about the standard New England tactics, who totaled eighteen fouls to United’s seven.

“Boskovic was very good, very sharp, dictated the game…He has been a great pro for us and done everything we have asked. These aren’t always easy games to play in when you are a European international but he comes and plays hard.”

In the end, United’s bad judgment and poor defending were their undoing.

Completely against the run of play, Dube converted a cross from Kenny Mansally from the right flank to give New England the lead in the 34th minute and extended the lead with a barely contested shot that beat Pat Onstad from a step inside the 18-yard box just after halftime.

Alan Koger was left even more unmarked after collecting a spinning ball that United let inexplicably bounce just outside the penalty area, burying a shot to the near post to stretch the lead to 3-0 in the 69th minute.

United were careless either with the ball or in their decision making on all three Revolution goals. On Dube’s first goal, Ousmane Dabo won a sloppy ball near the center circle and quickly transitioned into the area behind United’s midfield and back line, before playing the original ball wide right to Mansally.

“I think in the second half we played very good – we scored two goals and found our game. A lot of games we have problems in defense, they scored so easy against us, we must be stronger in defense,” said Boskovic.

A simple ball by Koger, a second half substitute, off the right left Dube alone in space and he wisely took the shot before the nearest United defender could close him down for his second goal.

To their credit, United didn’t go away quietly as Boskovic had two great chances in a 7-minute span rejected by the goalkeeper and his sidekick.

After Otto Loewy was shown a well deserved yellow card for a reckless challenge on Blake Brettschneider just outside the 18-yard box in the 51st minute, Boskovic curled the free kick labeled for the top right corner but Bobby Shuttleworth extended well to his left to parry it away. He followed that up 7-minutes later with another free kick that rattled the post.

After collecting a simple lay off from Charlie Davies, who had come on in the 68th minute, Boskovic danced around the penalty area to get the ball onto his favored left foot before banging one home to cut into the Revolution lead.

Boskovic followed that up with a 30-yard thrasher from the left side in the 82nd minute after collecting a fairly innocuous pass from Andy Najar, taking one dribble and beating Shuttleworth inside the near post.

United will need to put this behind them quickly as they return to league play with a match at Houston on Friday night.

SCORING SUMMARY

NE — Dube 34′ (Mansally)
NE — Dube 47′ (Koger)
NE — Koger 69′

DC — Boskovic 73′ (Davies)
DC — Boskovic 83′ (Najar)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

DC — Boskovic, caution 16′
NE — Loewy, caution 50′
NE — Dube, caution 80′
NE — Cochrane, caution 85′
NE — Koger, caution 86′
DC — Morsink, caution 88′

LINEUPS

D.C. UNITED — Pat Onstad; Brandon Barklage, Rodrigo Brasesco (Dax McCarty 79′), Ethan White, Daniel Woolard; Andy Najar, Branko Boskovic, Kurt Morsink, Santino Quaranta (C); Joseph Ngwenya (Charlie Davies 68′), Blake Brettschneider (Chris Pontius 64′)

Unused substitutes: Bill Hamid, Stephen King, Conor Shanosky, Perry Kitchen

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION — Bobby Shuttleworth; Darrius Barnes, Ryan Cochrane, Otto Loewy (Michael Augustine 91′), Chris Tierney; Sainey Nyassi, Ousmane Dabo (Diego Fagundez 76′), Stephen McCarthy, Ryan Kinne; Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally (Alan Koger 46′)

Unused substitutes: Tim Murray, Zack Schilawski

Referee: Juan Carlos Rivero
Assistants: Mark Gorak, Ian O’Neil
4th official: Michael Donovan

Charlie Davies scored another second half penalty kick after a debatable decision to award the kick in the first place, to bring DC United to level terms with the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 before an energetic crow of 26,622 at RFK Stadium.

Mike Magee nodded home a David Beckham corner kick in the 12th minute and that looked to be the only goal of the match until Davies equalized with his third penalty kick and fourth overall goal of the season in the 89th minute.

After some quick and crafty dribbling got Davies past Omar Gonzalez in the penalty area, the big defender stuck his left arm out and made slight contact with Davies; slight contact.

Davies fell to the turf and referee Abiodun Okulaja took the bait and pointed immediately to the spot, causing him to be bum-rushed by at least three Galaxy players including David Beckham and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

The young star stepped up and took his own kick, beating Ricketts with a cheeky chip down the middle.

“My job is to come in and change the game – to bring energy and use my skills to get a goal, whether scoring or creating (a goal),” said Davies, who leads the league in goals scored despite not starting a game.

“I saw an opportunity to get the ball and go against the defense. I saw Omar Gonzalez and I was one-on-one with him, and I thought this is my bread and butter, I have to go at him. I did a step over and was able to get by him, but he put his hands on me and I was able to get a penalty.”

At the time of the equalizer, United were a man down after Santino Quaranta was ejected for his second yellow card for two reckless challenges in the 85th minute. The Galaxy’s Jovan Kirovsky was also shown a red card at full time for arguing with Okulaja.

Los Angeles played without star Landon Donovan who stayed at home after not training for most of the week with a knee injury. Though hardly a fair exchange, United were without Perry Kitchen who came down with flu-like symptoms earlier in the day after recently returning from the U-20 World Cup Qualifying in Guatemala.

Despite the seemingly favorable result, United coach Ben Olsen was less than happy with the overall quality of his team’s performance. United were ineffective in moving the ball into dangerous areas as the Galaxy sat in and looked for opportunities to counter after taking the lead.

“I’m happy we battled back and found a way to get a tie, but overall it’s not good enough and that starts with me and I think we may be fortunate tonight and I will take the blame for that,” said Olsen. “Overall I thought we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be tonight, I thought the energy was there but we just weren’t a good enough soccer team. We need to become a better passing team.”

United’s inexperience showed repeatedly. Not only did they let the diminutive Magee score basically an uncontested goal off a set piece, they let two long balls bounce cleanly in front of their own goal, including a long throw that bounced nearly in the middle of the 6-yard box in the 26th minute.

“That is unacceptable at any level whether you are a young team, old team. We’ve got enough guys out there that are not young that we’ve got to take more accountability on these plays,” added United forward Josh Wolff.

“It doesn’t matter. We have a handful of guys that don’t have the years that others do, but they have years, they’ve got experience. You can only use the young card so long. We’ve got to grow and mature as a group and we can look at the video so much but we’ve got to start making the plays on Saturdays when it counts.”

Los Angeles pressured United near the center stripe, forcing numerous back passes to Hamid or a defender which led to 50/50 balls coming back the other way that the Galaxy repeatedly won.

“We didn’t give up a lot but on the flip side we didn’t create any clear cut chances in the final third,” Wolff said. “Most of it just has to do with just having some patience.

“We obviously gave up a goal in a disappointing fashion-on a set piece. It is something we have harped on the last two weeks and the smallest guy on the field gets free inside the six (yard box) and nods one in so it’s not the way we want to start the game.”

“At that point we understand what they are going to do-they are gonna sit back a little more and take their chances on the counters thus we should have more of the ball and at that point we don’t do well enough with the ball and creating the advantages around the field and that comes from making soccer plays; moving it and getting the advantages,” Wolff continued.

“We were just a little stagnant, a little slow at interpreting plays and it wasn’t good enough going forward and we got caught a couple of times in the back as well,”

As the intensity of play picked after the first quarter hour, so did the physicality.

The Galaxy’s Todd Dunivant earned himself a yellow card sliding well late into a challenge on a Dax McCarty ball played wide to the right, hammering Chris Korb in the process with a major collision that left both players weary in the 29th minute.

Quaranta took down Juninho with a hard, and late, shoulder challenge earning his first yellow card in the 39th minute. Apparently still a little charged up 2-minutes later, Quaranta exchanged some heated words with Beckham and had to be restrained after the superstar clipped Wolff from behind with a scissor-like tackle earning a caution as well. Quaranta’s second yellow came after a reckless stab at a loose ball caught Gonzalez squarely on the top of his foot.

On the ensuing McCarty free kick, Dejan Jakovic snuck into the back post and found a fortunate deflection but his left footed shot on a bouncing ball missed wide.

After Hamid slid out to deflect away a Galaxy cross from the right flank, the deflection found a wide open Magee but his shot toward the open goal was cleared off the goal line at the near post by an alert Ethan White in the 35th minute.

Magee nearly had the game winning assist in stoppage time, but his low ball across the face of the goal from the left side of the penalty area was just out of the reach of a sliding Sean Franklin near the back post.

D.C. UNITED: Hamid; Korb (Najar 72′), Jakovic, White, Burch; Quaranta, Simms, McCarty (Boskovic 80′), Pontius; Wolff, Brettschneider (Davies 53′)

Unused substitutes: Ngwenya, Fred, Woolard, Onstad

LA GALAXY: Ricketts; Dunivant, Leonardo, Gonzalez, DeLaGarza; Magee, Beckham (Kirovski 80′), Juninho, Franklin; Lopez (Cardozo 75′), Angel (Barrett 89′)

Unused substitutes: Saunders, Hejduk, Stephens, Jordan

SCORING SUMMARY
LA Galaxy – Mike Magee 12′ (Beckham)
D.C. United – Charlie Davies 90′ (PK) | Video

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
Todd Dunivant – caution 29′
Santino Quaranta – caution 39′
David Beckham – caution 41′
Santino Quaranta – second caution/ejection 84′

Referee: Abiodun Okulaja
Assistants: Chris Strickland, Adam Garner
4th official: John McCloskey