D.C. United’s U-23 program lost 4-1 to Bethlehem Steel in Philadelphia on June 14.
But the loss was not all bad for United. Right back Carter Manley turned in an excellent performance with solid one-on-one defending and physical play. He also showed a willingness to get forward and help out in attack.
Forward Cale Thorne also turned in a notable performance, netting a goal for the Black-and-Red. He also displayed quality in the air and proved to be a very good one-on-one defender, despite being an attacking player.
"Today we wanted to test our players and put them into a challenging environment,” Nate Kish, United's Under-23 coach, said. “Bethlehem were very dangerous in transition and put us under pressure from the start of the match. I am happy with the way we settled into the match and started to knock the ball around. We created several chances today, but just lacked a bit of quality in the final third."
