D.C. United kept busy during their bye week with plenty of preparation for their upcoming road trip and a set of scrimmages against the Maryland Terrapins and Richmond Kickers on Friday, April 20. The Black-and-Red took to Ludwig Field at the University of Maryland to maintain game shape before their next league action against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, April 28.
The scrimmages allowed head coach Ben Olsen to test different lineups and formations, and gave players outside the normal starting XI a chance to impress in the bye week. United first took on Maryland for two 30-minute halves. The setting was a familiar one for former Terps Patrick Mullins, Chris Odoi-Atsem, and Taylor Kemp, who all spent their college days playing under Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski.
United's back line came out of the gates and stifled the Terps attack, with Steven Birnbaum, Frédéric Brillant, and Kofi Opare each seeing time at center back and doing well to keep goalkeeper Steve Clark untested.
Homegrown player Chris Durkin served as the team’s defensive midfielder against the Terps and helped United control possession for much of the match. The 18-year-old combined particularly well with Luciano Acosta, who dropped back often to get more touches on the ball in the central midfield and was often fed by Durkin. Acosta’s roaming mentality also produced more chances for United's attackmen and opened up space behind the Maryland defense.
The visiting side’s best chance came with just a few minutes left in the scrimmage. Yamil Asad held up play and found Nick DeLeon streaking down the right wing. He cut inside and dropped the ball to Odoi-Atsem, who delivered a cross into the box with his right foot. The sequence almost resulted in a (former) Terp-to-Terp goal as Mullins rose and headed a strong shot toward goal, but it was caught by the Maryland keeper.
The Black-and-Red switched XIs for the second scrimmage against their USL affiliates the Richmond Kickers. Dane Kelly scored twice as the team’s lone striker, and United bested Richmond 3-1.
Oniel Fisher impressed from his left back position, defending strong on the ball and sending multiple well-placed crosses in for the attack. Ian Harkes served as the vocal leader from his defensive midfield position, and Darren Mattocks, Paul Arriola, and Zoltán Stieber remained threatening in the Kickers' final third.
The scrimmage's first goal originated from a Stieber corner kick and ended with a bang from Harkes. After Stieber's corner sailed long, the Black-and-Red recovered the loose ball and moved it around the 18-yard box until it found Stieber again, who cut inside on his right foot and found Harkes at the top of the box. In stride, Harkes drilled a shot into the top right corner.
United found another goal right before the end of the first half. Arriola won the ball off of a strong challenge in the midfield and dished a pass to Harkes, who fed Arriola again. The midfielder found Kelly on the right side of the box where he fired a shot that deflected off a defender and floated over a helpless Richmond keeper into the back of the net.
The Black-and-Red's third score started with a close-range shot from Darren Mattocks that was saved by the keeper and sent high into the air. After a scrap for possession in the box, the ball fell kindly to Kelly who buried his second goal into the right side of the net. The Kickers got one back with a few minutes left to play, but D.C. walked off with a 3-1 result after dominating the run of play.
With another off week of work behind them and plenty of time to rest and recoup for their upcoming games, United return to league action this weekend, taking on the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, April 28. Kickoff from Talen Energy Stadium is set for 3:30 PM on UniMas and Twitter Live.
