WASHINGTON (Sept. 19, 2015) – D.C. United (13-11-6, 45 points) missed an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth with a 2-1 defeat to Columbus Crew SC (13-9-8, 47 points).
Chris Rolfe scored his career-high and team-leading 10th goal of the year with a penalty kick in the 68th minute following a handball by Chris Klute, but it was not enough to overcome Crew SC goals by Ethan Finlay in the 27th minute and Kei Kamara in the 49th minute.
D.C. United return to action on Sept. 22 at Montego Bay United in 2015-16 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League play in Jamaica (FOX Soccer Plus, 8.) and then travel to face the Montreal Impact on Sept. 26 at Stade Saputo in Montreal, Que. (Comcast SportsNet, 5).
D.C. United utilized the same lineup in consecutive games for the third time in 2015. The Black-and-Red have had 27 different starting lineups in 30 games.
D.C. United is 26-25-10 all-time against Columbus, 19-9-4 at RFK Stadium.
D.C. United is now 7-9-2 when allowing the first goal and 5-6-2 when trailing at halftime.
D.C. United is now 9-3-3 at home in 2015.
Chris Rolfe recorded his career-high and team-leading 10th goal of 2015.
Nick DeLeon made the 100th regular season start of his career.
Bill Hamid made his 136th start, moving into 10th all-time for D.C. United.
Bill Hamid finished with six saves.
*Head Coach Ben Olsen’s overall record is now 62-75-41. He is 4-7-2 vs. Columbus.
Quotes are available at dcunited.com.
Highlights
D.C. United (13-11-6, 45 points) vs. Columbus Crew SC (13-9-8, 47 points)
MLS regular season
Sept. 19, 2015 – RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 19,033
Goals by Period 1 2 Total
D.C. United 0 1 1
Columbus Crew SC 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
CLB – Ethan Finlay 9 (Tyson Wahl 2, Kei Kamara 8) 27’
CLB – Kei Kamara 21 (Tony Tchani 4) 49’
DC – Chris Rolfe 68’
Misconduct Summary:
DC – Steven Birnbaum (caution, unsporting behavior) 51’
DC – Perry Kitchen (caution, persistent infringement) 62’
CLB – Chris Klute (caution, entering field) 72’
D.C. United lineup:
Bill Hamid, Taylor Kemp, Steven Birnbaum, Bobby Boswell, Sean Franklin; Chris Rolfe (Jairo Arrieta 86’), Perry Kitchen, Markus Halsti (Chris Pontius 75’), Nick DeLeon; Fabián Espíndola, Álvaro Saborío.
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Dykstra, Conor Doyle, Luke Mishu, Kofi Opare, Michael Farfan
Columbus Crew SC lineup:
Steve Clark, Chris Klute (Hector Jimenez 76’), Tyson Wahl, Michael Parkhurst, Harrison Afful, Tony Tchani, Wil Trapp, Justin Meram (Kristinn Steindorsson 79’), Federico Higuain, Ethan Finlay (Emanuel Pogatetz 83’), Kei Kamara
Unused Substitutes: Brad Stuver, Cedrick Mabwati, Mohammed Saeid, Aaron Schonfeld
Referee: Ted Unkel
Assistant Referees: Peter Manikowski, Richard Gamache
Fourth Official: Fotia Bazakos
