Following the decision to postpone the second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals between D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls, there was a lot of pent up energy and raw emotion in the Black-and-Red locker room.
At the time, United Head Coach Ben Olsen described his frustration, saying, "I'm upset because I have some guys that, I knew by the look in their eyes, that they were ready to go today."
Anger, disappointment, and frustration were just a few ways to describe the mood inside the locker room. But after a few minutes, a couple reasonable voices emerged from two team veterans. United leaders Chris Pontius and Dwayne De Rosario spoke to the team and let them know that all the emotion had to be bottled up and saved for the following day.
"A lot of the guys are angry. You've just got to bottle up that energy, that anger, and use it out on them tomorrow," said Chris Pontius following the decision to postpone the game.
At breakfast and through the morning, you could tell that there was a sense of urgency, calmness, readiness, and, as Pontius put it "anger" all waiting to be channeled against the New York Red Bulls. Despite circumstances piling up against the team, the Black-and-Red will be ready to go tonight. Ready to use that energy to put forth its best effort and reward the amazing fans that are again making the trip to New Jersey for the game.
D.C. United will play the second leg of the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals tonight against the New York Red Bulls on NBC Sports Network at 7:30 PM.
