Conor Doyle’s bio on MLSsoccer.com is one line: “ACQUIRED: Via league lottery on loan from Derby County, July 18, 2013.”
Chances are, if he continues to turn in shifts like he has in his first four matches with D.C. United, he’s going to command a bit more text than that.
After going scoreless in his professional career before joining United, the soft-spoken Texan has found the net twice off the bench in a span of three matches for D.C., much to the delight of coach Ben Olsen.
“With a team that’s struggling to score goals, anybody that comes in and hits the net twice off the bench is doing a very good job,” Olsen said. “But his soccer is good. He’s got very good instincts and his positioning as a forward finds him in the right spots. His running off the ball is good, and I’m very, very happy that we picked him up.”
Doyle, in turn, is happy to have found a home in the US, though oddly enough both of his goals have come against Montreal. Fortunately, United play another Canadian side in Toronto FC on Saturday (7 pm ET, MLS Live).
“You always want to get your next goal straight away. You don’t want to be waiting, so it was nice,” Doyle said of scoring the equalizer in last Saturday's 2-1 loss against the Impact. “I wish we could play Montreal every weekend.”
Doyle was one of United’s midseason acquisitions, and along with Luis Silva, the pair have combined to score five goals for a club that has 14 all season. They’re two of D.C.’s few multiple-goal scorers (Dwayne De Rosario and Lionard Pajoy both have a pair) and each are a large reason why, despite sitting on the fewest points in the league, United are feeling better about their play of late.
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“I feel a lot more comfortable with the guys and around the locker room,” Doyle said. “They’ve been really good welcoming me and stuff. Obviously getting a few goals always helps and playing alright, but it’s been good. It’s a good group of guys and we’re trying to fight through all this losing stuff.”
Doyle has totaled 201 minutes in his time with United, including one start, and taken nine shots (five on goal) to go along with his two goals and one assist. He’ll likely have another chance to show what he can do when United welcome Toronto FC to RFK Stadium.
“You can tell the chemistry’s getting there between all of us. You can tell it’s getting there on the field and it’s working well from the back to the front,” Doyle said. “It’ll probably take another week to get properly full-on, especially from my point of view considering I’m new, but it’s been good so far.”
