WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of D.C. United’s stunning 4-2 Knockout Round defeat to the Montreal Impact on Thursday night, it was nearly impossible to separate the pain of the moment from the promise of much of the season.
“It hurts right now,” D.C defender Steve Birnbaum said. “It hurts a lot. We thought we had a great group going into the game, and a good game plan. It just didn’t pan out for us the way we wanted it to.”
Yet the work must soon commence on rectifying a loss that wasn’t even as close as the final score with a second half of the league campaign where United played its most appealing soccer in several seasons.
United’s run of 34 goals in 14 matches appeared too consistent to be a fluke. So did the second-half performances of preseason signings Luciano Acosta and Patrick Nyarko, as well as mid-season additions Patrick Mullins and Lloyd Sam.
“The majority of this group is coming back, and we’re going to build on the second half of the season, and that’s a very exciting thing,” said D.C. coach Ben Olsen. “It’s tough to feel that in the moment right now. But again, our nucleus is, I think, very, very exciting, very promising. And I think if we add to it, We’re going to be hopefully able to put the type of performances that we did in the second half over the course of a full year.”
Losing just twice over that 14-match stretch allowed D.C. to finish fourth in the East for a second straight season and ensure themselves a home playoff game for a third consecutive year.
Perhaps just as importantly for a team aiming to open a new stadium in 2018, the incisiveness and excitement of their attack may have re-ignited what was once one of the league’s best fanbases.
United drew more than 56,000 total fans to their last two weekend home matches, their two biggest crowds of the season. That included 30,943 who watched a 3-1 win over New York City FC in their regular-season home finale.
“I think we changed a little bit the atmosphere about soccer in D.C,” midfielder Marcelo Sarvas said. “We saw a little bit the people coming to the stadium, the environment changed. … It’s sad, it’s sad that everything just ended up like that. But I think we keep this feeling from this season.”
Mullins said those same supporters also saw a team that showed character even on its worst nights. He pointed to Lamar Neagle's and Taylor Kemp’s very late consolationgoals Thursday scored well after the prospect of a conference semifinal berth had vanished.
“We were always going to chase [the game],” Mullins said. “There was never going to be a time we were going to quit. And, you know, I’m proud of our team for doing that and fighting to the end.”
