BOYDS, Md. -- D.C. United are proud of their 2008 U.S. Open Cup championship and eager to defend the title and keep the Dewar Trophy in residence at RFK Stadium for another year. But you might not know it by their mentality in the tournament's round-of-16 and quarterfinal matches this season.For two consecutive weeks, United have lived dangerously in Open Cup contests against lower-tier opposition, and for two straight weeks luck has bailed them out, allowing them to squeak through despite allowing heart-stopping rallies by their adversaries.Last week the Ocean City Barons pushed D.C. to the limit, as the Black-and-Red clung to a 1-0 lead as the PDL side threw numbers forward and even clanged a would-be equalizer off the crossbar in the final minutes at the Maryland SoccerPlex. On Tuesday night against the USL-2 Harrisburg City Islanders, United seemed to have taken that lesson to heart, charging out to a 2-0 lead after only 18 minutes thanks to headed goals from Boyzzz Khumalo and Andrew Jacobson."In any of these matchups where you're playing against a lower-level team, they're going to come out and give you everything they have," said D.C. coach Tom Soehn. "The way you take that away or force them out to play is getting an early goal. And we did that. We didn't finish the game off, though."This time around the late fireworks came from the third-tier side, which was thoroughly dominated by United in the first half only to produce an improbable comeback after finding themselves down two goals -- and one player, thanks to Mo Oduor's red card -- after 49 minutes.Up to that point D.C. had controlled possession and carved out no shortage of chances, taking 12 shots in the first half alone. But Oduor's ejection sparked the City Islanders into life and they punished their MLS counterparts' complacency with a scrappy goal from Nicki Paterson that set up another tight finish -- and yet again, United were rescued by the woodwork as Harrisburg substitute David Schofield saw a shot ring off the underside of the bar in the late going."When the red card came, we thought we had the game won," said Soehn. "The way we started out the game, I thought we had a very aggressive mentality. We were moving the ball around pretty well and created a lot of good opportunities. Again, we created a lot more than we put away and if you keep a team around, in this tournament or in any part of the world, they get one back and all of a sudden now you're scraping for it."Though their team's late fade was undoubtedly disquieting, United fans can take heart from the manner in which Tuesday's goals were created. Khumalo's creativity and boundless energy have not always been paired with sharp finishing this season, but he showed real agility to reach a probing cross from Devon McTavish in the eighth minute, while Jacobson produced United's second on a corner kick, the set piece opportunity that has so often frustrated D.C. in recent years."We saw some things we could try out. They played in a zone a little bit, so I held at the top of the box and made a run," said Jacobson of the play. "It was a perfect ball from Fred -- I had the easy part done."Soehn was encouraged to see Fred log a full 90 minutes in his first appearance following an adductor injury sustained in Seattle last month. While the Brazilian readily admitted that he was short of full match fitness, he showed plenty of skill and intelligent movement. With nearly two weeks until their next match, United will now look to bring several other veterans back up to speed as a demanding August looms."We've got some key guys out and it's important to get those guys back," said Soehn. "We're coming up on a stretch where we've got a lot of games in a short amount of time and we have to have as many guys available as possible."
