Despite draw with Dynamo, United still hopeful for 2015

Photo: Jennifer Harrell

by Sean Maslin

Dropping points in any match hurts, but dropping two points late stings even more. It is the proximity of victory, that running at a breakneck pace for the past 70-80 minutes might pay off. The great teams can hold on late and even if they do lose, they learn from their past mistakes.

On Saturday United once again dropped points late, surrendering a goal to Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark in the 65th minute. This is the second consecutive match where United have dropped points late. With consecutive victories lost late, one might expect D.C. United to be a bit down. But the club still seems optimistic.

“Yeah, certainly disappointed with not getting all three. The other side of that, I’m happy to get one,” said D.C. United coach Ben Olsen. “They had their chances and we had ours. It just seems like we’re not taking our chances to kill off teams. If you let teams hang around in this League, or any league, teams will find ways to get results.”

Perhaps the biggest reason for the club to be optimistic is that goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra seems to have found his rhythm. With starting goalkeeper Bill Hamid out with a thigh contusion, Olsen opted to go with Dykstra. Dykstra had previously only started twice this season, the first a disastrous match in the CONCACAF Champions League against Alajuelense. Despite his last match being certainly less than memorable performance, Dykstra looked sharp on Saturday night making several darting saves.

“I’m extremely happy for Andrew. I think he’s been excited to get back out there and prove to everyone that he’s the goalkeeper that we know he can be,” said Olsen. “Again, I’ve talked about it before: we set him up to fail in Costa Rica. It shows his character to come out tonight and have a very good performance.”

“You just have to put things behind you and I knew I was better than that and the team knew it too,” said Dykstra. “I was out for eight months and had two weeks of training, but things happen. In terms of coming back, this is great for me.”

Set pieces continued to be an asset for the United attack. With Olsen choosing to use midfielder Luis Silva and Nick De Leon off of the bench (although both would play,) United needed find their scoring touch from midfielder Chris Rolfe. Rolfe would help D.C.’s cause in the 36th minute with a free kick screamer that would be just beyond the reach of Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric. The goal was Rolfe’s second of the season.

Over half of United’s goals this season have come off of set pieces and have helped a United attack that has been limited due to injuries and suspensions a chance. “We need that because we haven’t been clinical out of the run of play, and that part needs to get better,” said Olsen. “Set pieces are big part of successful teams in any league and we are fortunate to have guys on this team that can capitalize on them. It’s another result, however you want to put it.”

Still United (3-1-2, 11 points) did drop points in this match and were unable to keep with the the New York Red Bulls (3-0-2, 11 points )for the race for first in the Eastern Conference. But the season is still young and United remain hopeful that they can iron out whatever issues exist.

“I feel like we are a good enough group of guys that can manage any game against any team,” said D.C. United center-back Bobby Boswell. “You can tell by the reaction of the guys tonight, that it is just not good enough. We need to watch more video and figure out a way to get it done on the field.”