Late Scores Help Subdue Pesky Rochester in U.S. Open Cup: United 2, Rhinos 0
By Steven Goff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
D.C. United had grown tired of failing in the U.S. Open Cup, fed up with humiliating losses to lower-division clubs and disappointing efforts by secondary players. But for 78 minutes last night, United found itself in a familiar and discouraging situation: locked in a scoreless round-of-16 match with the last-place team from the second division.
Marc Burch's left foot, however, prevented another upset.
Burch scored on a pair of free kicks, the first on a 30-yard rocket with about 12 minutes remaining, as United subdued the Rochester Rhinos, 2-0, before 2,752 at Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds.
United, which lost to third-tier Harrisburg in the 94-year-old tournament last summer, will return to the upper Montgomery County complex Tuesday and face the Chicago Fire in the quarterfinals.
Playing just two days after a 4-1 league victory over Los Angeles at RFK Stadium, United turned to several young players and reserves against the Rhinos, who are last in 11-team USL1, one level down from MLS. Despite having the better of play, United missed several early scoring chances and seemed destined for overtime when Burch struck twice.
On Sunday, Burch lashed a free kick from 30-plus yards off the crossbar. Last night, he found the target.
"I saw the goalie was a little bit shielded by the wall so I just went up and tried to hit it as hard as I could," Burch said. "I went low. I'm sick of hitting the crossbar."
On the second goal, from about 20 yards, his low drive deflected off the defensive wall and past committed goalkeeper Scott Vallow.
"He laced it pretty good," Vallow said of the first goal. "It was tailing away from me, kind of knuckled a little bit. I got a hand on it, but it wasn't enough."
For United, the game provided an opportunity to assess the reserves. Marcelo Gallardo and Bryan Namoff, 90-minute contributors Sunday, were not in uniform. Neither were injured starters Jaime Moreno (abdominal strain) and Santino Quaranta (hamstring). Regular starters Clyde Simms and Fred began the evening on the bench.
United retained four starters from Sunday's match: forward Luciano Emilio, defenders Devon McTavish and Gonzalo MartÃnez, and keeper Zach Wells. A pair of regulars, Burch and Rod Dyachenko, were also in the lineup.
Coach Tom Soehn filled the other four slots with forward Francis Doe, just back from Liberian national team duty, and rookies Pat Carroll, Dan Stratford and Ryan Cordeiro.
Assessing his players, Soehn said: "Some did well and some didn't. This is our chance to find out two things: who can make it and who can't. We learned a lot."
United created a golden opportunity after just one minute, but Vallow was well positioned to stop Dyachenko's short header. Dyachenko tested Vallow from 30-plus yards in the 12th minute, and for the most part, the Rhinos retained their composure.
Rochester saw less and less of the ball as the half progressed and was forced to commit more players into defense. Emilio's 20-yarder streaked over the crossbar before Vallow denied Doe with a reflex save and made a sensational diving stop on Cordeiro's drive.
The Rhinos made it to halftime with the tie intact, a hopeful sign for an overmatched team that is 0-4-3 in league road games.
Soehn made three moves at the break, removing Emilio and MartÃnez, who played 90 minutes apiece Sunday, as well as Stratford. Fred should have scored three minutes into the second half, but missed high.
The deadlock seemed to test United's patience and strengthen Rochester's resolve. In the 54th minute, Rhinos midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer's one-timer skipped narrowly wide. By the midway point of the half, United had run out of ideas and the Rhinos grew bolder on the attack. Gallardo usually takes free kicks, but with him in the stands, Burch got his chance.
"We were controlling the play, we were knocking it around," Burch said. "We looked good out there, but we weren't getting any real chances. I figured a free kick or a rebound or something similar, we were going to score."
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