First Impressions - D.C. United 2 : 0 Rochester Rhinos

Ah, yes, welcome back to the Marc Burch show, starring him, Marc Burch. This is why I write long posts debating the role of Marc Burch on the team, what it means to have Marc Burch rally the offense after being shut out in the first half. What I'm saying is, thank goodness I had the foresight to write about Marc Burch today. Okay, right, point taken. Yeah. Whoops. What I mean to say is, this is why in the future I'm going to write long posts about Marc Burch

Still, if someone whose been on the border of the starting line-up had to step up, I'm glad it was Marc. Last year's US Open Cup debacle at the hands of the City Islanders served a nice prescient slice of pie (humble flavored) to United, so the fact the team did step up, that Tom Soehn used all four subs, that we actually managed this game (even if I was stunned to see Emilio starting out) makes me glad. The US Open Cup does not mean that much to me at this point, it's an investment with too remote a payoff to justify endangering any other competition right now. But the farther we get, the more important it becomes. In my mind, by actually playing Fred and Simms (second half), and Emilio (first half), this almost seemed like too much of a risk of injury, but Tom Soehn was rewarded with the advancing and by blending his line-up, protected himself from any charges of taking the match too lightly.

Except for about a ten minute stretch, Rochester never particularly seemed dangerous, but United didn't finish off the Rhinos the way they did against L.A. But the team of mostly reservists got the job done, especially with a decent defensive effort. Merit awards to Carroll the Younger, man of the match to Marc Burch.