Players and staff alike were elated after D.C. United's 2-0 win against the New England Revolution last weekend, which knocked off the previously undefeated Revs while extending United's unbeaten streak to four games.
"We were pumped," said defender Bobby Boswell afterwards. "We got out early and got on top of them, exactly what we wanted to do, and then just cleaned it up in the back. Today I think was an all-around solid performance."
There was no hiding the fact that the Black-and-Red were thankful not only for an assured win over an Eastern Conference rival, but also the brief midseason holiday that followed.
With no matches until next Wednesday, the squad was given five days off to rest and recover from an arduous early season schedule made hectic by United's participation in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. United was troubled by inconsistency for most of the campaign's first two months, but rose to the occasion when faced with three conference matchups last week, rolling up seven points and vaulting out of last place in the East.
Despite their recent momentum, D.C.'s players have no qualms about getting a respite from the daily grind.
"You'd like to play again Saturday or Wednesday," said striker Santino Quaranta, who scored his second goal of the season against New England. "But then again, we've been on it pretty tough this year so far. Everybody needs to get away."
Quaranta is one of several who have sand and sea on their minds. The Baltimore native is making tracks for Ocean City, Md., one of the more popular beach towns in the mid-Atlantic region, while Boswell returned to his sunny hometown of Tampa, Fla., for time with family and friends.
"It's going to be great to get out of here on two wins like this," said Boswell.
Even United's hard-working honcho has heard the ocean's call. Head coach Peter Nowak will be escaping to his "small place on the beach" this week, though he's almost certainly planning a rigorous regimen for the resumption of training on Thursday.
"We've been asked to run over the break." said Boswell with a grimace. "When we get back we're probably going to go pretty hard. Not looking forward to it, but whatever."
United will need to savor this free time, because there won't be much of it in the weeks to come. The team travels to Chicago for a midweek clash with the Fire that kicks off a frenetic stretch of eight matches in less than a month, culminating with the much-anticipated exhibition against English champions Chelsea FC on July 28.
Chelsea have become one of Europe's dominant clubs thanks to Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich's billions, and United's players are already excited about the meeting.
"It's going to be the greatest thing to happen for me, just playing against those guys," said Quaranta. "I got a chance to play against Bayer Leverkusen my first year, and it was a thrill. Hopefully they'll bring a lot of their (best) guys and it'll be something I can tell my kids about."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to Major League Soccer or its clubs.
