From the first match on May 5, 1996 to Alecko Eskandarian famously spitting out Red Bull at Giants Stadium, there has been no shortage of great stories from the Atlantic Cup rivalry over the years. In anticipation of the 78th showdown with New York, here are the top five things to know ahead of Sunday's installment of this I-95 derby.
THE LOGISTICS
As in years past, the 2012 winner will be decided bythe following:
Standings points earned in the three head-to-head league matches
Should both sides accumulate equal points, aseries of tiebreakers are in place.They are - in order - as follows.
- First - Total goals scored in the three matches
- Second - Away goals scored in the three matches
- If both tiebreakers fail, the trophy holder retains the Atlantic Cup.
LARGEST CROWD
32,864 fans packed Giants Stadium on October 2,2004 in hopes of seeing Freddy Adu, and the young phenom did notdisappoint. The 15-year-old scoredthe game-winning goal on a deflected shot in the 16th minute as theBlack-and-Red picked up a 1-0 victory on the road.
The most spectators RFK has ever seen for theAtlantic Cup came earlier in the same year, when 28,764 fans showed up on July3. Adu played just eight minutes,but the masses went home happy as United whitewashed New York 6-2. The goal sheet from that day reads likea who's who of Black-and-Red lore.Ryan Nelsen, Jaime Moreno, Earnie Stewart, Alecko Eskandarian (twice)and a young Ben Olsen scored in the rout.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
There have been only two hat tricks in theseventeen years of competition between these two rivals, and both of the iconicperformances came via the Black-and-Red.
In June of 2008, Luciano Emilio scored threetimes in the first hour of play as D.C. slammed New York 4-1. The Brazilian's evening was a specialone, but ranks slightly behind the fued's other hat trick.
During arguably the finest season of hiscareer, Ben Olsen saved his best performance for New York. United's now-coach scored three timesin a 4-2 defeat of the Red Bulls, capping his memorable day with along-distance volley that brought all of RFK to its feet.
ALL-TIME RECORD
Including regular season, playoffs and Open Cup, D.C. United leads the all-time series with a record of44-25-8 over 77 encounters.
Since the Atlantic Cup was officially conceivedin 2002, the Black-and-Red have won the trophy seven times with New York takinghome the hardware in 2003, 2010 and 2011.
THE SPARK
On October 2, 1996 - after the sides had splitthe series' first two contests - D.C. and New York met in the deciding thirdgame of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at RFK Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, expert-poacherSteve Rammel tallied from a goalmouth scramble to give D.C. a 1-0 lead in the65th minute. From there, thevisitors poured on the pressure as 1994 World Cup veterans Antony de Avila andRoberto Donadoni came within inches of equalizing. Finally, in the 86th minute, New York found their tally asde Avila beat Mark Simpson to tie the game.
Determined to avoid a shootout, two of D.C.'sbiggest stars combined for one final piece of magic. In the 88th minute, John Harkes danced out of pressure deepin the attacking third before slipping a pass to Marco Etcheverry. The Bolivian turned cleverly into NewYork's box, where Rob Johnson aggressively tackled Etcheverry from behind. U.S. goalkeeping legend Tony Meola doveto his left on the ensuing penalty kick only to see Raul Diaz Arce pound theball into the opposite corner for an 88th minute game-winner.
In front of more than twenty thousand fans on a Wednesday night inWashington, the rivalry had its first signature moment.
