As D.C. United await Audi Field’s completion, the Black-and-Red get set to play in their second and final game of their Home Away from Home series at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday, April 14.
After United’s first “home” game of the season, a 2-2 draw against the Houston Dynamo at the Maryland SoccerPlex, the team returns to Maryland next weekend hungry for three points in the storied setting. The game will be the first Major League Soccer match ever played in Annapolis and at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, and it will add another chapter to the venue's extensive history in a range of sports.
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, a 34,000 seat venue opened in 1959, serves as the home to the Naval Academy football and men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. The stadium also recently played host to the NHL Stadium Series in which fellow D.C. squad the Washington Capitals defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on March 3, 2018.
While the venue has had no shortage in sporting action over the years, United's match in Annapolis will end the Naval Academy’s 17-year stretch without professional soccer at the stadium.
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium last hosted pro soccer in August 2001, when the Washington Freedom and New York Power of the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association squared off in a regular season showdown in Annapolis due to scheduling conflicts at RFK Stadium, the Freedom’s usual home. The Freedom, headlined by U.S. Women’s National Team stars Mia Hamm and Siri Mullinix, dropped the match, 2-0, in front of a crowd of 8,033 fans. This match was the final game of the Freedom’s inaugural season in women’s professional soccer.
Hamm and Mullinix also competed with the U.S. Women's National Team at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in August of 2000, when the Americans played a friendly against Russia. The game was the second installment of Nike’s “Road to Glory” tour just months prior to the team’s run to a silver medal in the 2000 Olympics. The U.S. squad dominated Russia 7-1 in front of 21,278 fans. Hamm, who currently ranks as the third-most prolific goal scorer in women's international soccer, and Michelle Akers, who is also one of the top players in the history U.S. Soccer, each scored once.
Perhaps the most noteworthy professional soccer event to ever take place at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium came in 1984, when Annapolis was selected as one of four locations to host the preliminary round of men’s soccer in the Summer Olympics.
Chosen along with Harvard Stadium in Allston, Mass., the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif., the Naval Academy’s stadium was attractive to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC) due to its field width and drainage systems meeting international standards.
The 1984 games, and 23rd Olympics, were the first to allow professional soccer players to participate. Playing host to members of Groups A and B, the then 30,000 seat stadium hosted six games between July 29 and Aug. 3, 1984. The stadium’s average attendance for the six matches was 21,758, with the highest attendance coming during the first game on July 29, when 29,240 fans witnessed France and Qatar play to a 2-2 draw. The eventual gold medal team, France, and bronze medal team, Yugoslavia, also competed at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium before advancing to the quarterfinals in California.
United will add another chapter to the stadium's soccer history on April 14, and will hope their return to Maryland will also feature a return to the win column. After scoring the latest goal in club history to earn a draw against the Dynamo in their first Home Away from Home match, the Black-and-Red will look to put on a similar display of fortitude and moxie against the Crew, to whom they fell 3-1 on March 24. Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium will provide an ideal backdrop for United's potential early-season momentum changer, and Ben Olsen and co. will arrive in Annapolis determined to produce a strong showing before the D.C. faithful in their last stop in the DMV before the inaugural match at Audi Field.
