whether it's Troy [Perkins] making a big save or Christian [Gomez] coming up after missing a penalty, Fred injecting some light. We found a way to win and it wasn't pretty today.
TEAM NEWS
• The RSL game was the last for D.C. United before an 11-day break, after a stretch where they had played eight games from Aug. 15-Sept. 12. The United braintrust responded by giving the team four days off before beginning preparations for the Fire match at the start of this week.
• "I've been pushing these guys pretty hard and to their credit they have responded. We've had a lot of games in a short amount of time. We knew we had this break coming up and we might have actually thought we were on break today," Soehn said. "But we need it; we need to recharge our batteries and refocus. Again, I'm still pleased we were able to get a result on a day where it wasn't good enough." Said goalkeeper Troy Perkins: "It was a huge win going into a four-day break. If you lose or draw it, we would spend the whole time thinking about it."
• Now with five regular season matches remaining, United tops the MLS Supporters' Shield race (for the overall regular-season points leader) as well as the Eastern Conference race, and have already guaranteed themselves a playoff berth. But with three of their four final opponents in the thick of the fight for a spot in the postseason, the Black-and-Red are gearing up for an intense run-in.
• "There's going to be no easy games from here on out," said midfielder Ben Olsen. "Everybody needs to make playoffs. I say it every year, once the weather starts changing, the mood and the atmosphere in this league changes, because you know it's coming up on playoff time. The summer is gone and now you can run a little bit more and have a little bit more energy to close the ball down, and more tackling. That's an exciting time, and fall brings that on."
• In addition, United faces a home-and-home series with CD Guadalajara (Chivas) of Mexico on Sept. 26 (at RFK Stadium) and Oct. 3 (at Estadio Jalisco) in the Copa Sudamericana. But the club does not want to lose focus on the league battles.
• "We're trying to get after that Supporters' Shield and we can't really afford to let any points pass us by," said defender Devon McTavish. "Chivas [USA] is right there, New England is right behind us and Houston is right behind us, so it's a tight race at the top. We know that. We have five games left and we need to get a result in every one of them in order to win the Supporters' Shield, which is a goal of ours."
• Jaime Moreno missed the RSL match while on international duty with Bolivia, and he said he could miss club matches while again with his national side, as Bolivia take on Uruguay and Colombia to begin their World Cup qualifying campaign in October.
• "Yeah, it's going to be pretty tight, especially with all the many games that we have -- especially if we go through Sudamericana too," said Moreno. "I'm going to miss a few games for D.C., but I think we're doing well and players are stepping up. When I wasn't here, they did a great job. I think we'll be fine."
• United also made an addition to their squad during the break, picking up Angola-born striker Jerson Monteiro from the Chicago Fire. One of the Fire's two first-round picks in this year's SuperDraft (No. 8 overall), the 22-year-old Monteiro moved to Houston from his native country at age 14 and is a product of Alabama-Birmingham. He also scored for Chicago in the first meeting with D.C. this season.
• "I just never got a chance to play," he said of his time with Chicago to The Washington Post, which included just 154 minutes of action. "I was just real optimistic about [the trade], the opportunity to come to D.C."
