United Rallies to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

Doe Scores Two Goals To Erase a 1-0 Deficit: United 2, Revolution 1

A loss would have been devastating. Even a tie would not have helped much. So trailing by a goal with about a half-hour remaining in last night's critical match against the New England Revolution, D.C. United was staring at the end of its MLS playoff hopes and the prospects of another long winter.

The injury-battered club had not scored in a league match in weeks, hadn't beaten an MLS opponent in almost two months and had failed to come from behind to win since early June. RFK Stadium buzzed with anxiety and woe.

But in a 17-minute stretch, a reserve forward who had not scored in a league match all year restored United's prospects. Francis Doe, thrust into the starting lineup because of injuries, scored twice, including the go-ahead strike on a relentless individual effort in the 80th minute, as United downed New England, 2-1, to set up a dramatic finish to the 30-game schedule on Oct. 26.

United (11-14-4) will need to beat Columbus, the league's best club, and receive help in other matches. At the moment, D.C. is a point ahead of both Kansas City and New York and two in front of Dallas in the chase for two wild-card berths, but all three of those teams will be in action this weekend.

"It keeps going to the next week," midfielder Santino Quaranta said, "and that's all we can ask for."

United busted a seven-game winless streak in league play and beat an MLS team for the first time since Aug. 23. (Its only win since then had been against a second-division team in the U.S. Open Cup final.)

Taylor Twellman's goal in the 58th minute staked the Revolution (12-10-7) to the lead, and given United's scoring problems, New England figured to head home with, at worst, a tie and help kill its arch rival's playoff ambitions.

"Sometimes we need a slap in the face to wake up and to react," United captain Jaime Moreno said.

Moreno inspired the comeback, entering after Twellman's goal and, despite a sore knee that kept him out of the starting lineup, sending a through ball to Doe on the left side. Doe cut back on a slipping defender in the penalty area and beat goalkeeper Matt Reis to the near corner.

"There was a whole lot of pressure," said Doe, 22, who was waived by New York early this year. "It was great to get a goal and get the team back into the spirit."

Doe has four goals in nonleague competitions, including one against Saprissa in Costa Rica last week, but had not scored in 10 previous regular season appearances.

Revitalized by the goal, United pushed hard for another one, and in the 80th minute, Doe did it again. Quaranta won a header on goalkeeper Louis Crayton's long ball and Doe muscled past Michael Parkhurst, one of the league's premier defenders, before lifting a 12-yard shot over Reis.