It seemed like a fitting end to a cold finish to the 2011 campaign. DC United went win-less in their last six matches and fell 1-0 to Sporting Kansas City in their last match of the year. KC defender Matt Besler scored the difference maker in the 54th minute, and Sporting was able to hang on to clinch the number one seed in the Eastern Conference heading into postseason play. DC United finishes 9-12-13 (W-D-L) under Ben Olsen’s first year as the coach.
Going into the match, DC United already knew they were out of the postseason thanks to an earlier draw with Portland this week and a New York Red Bulls win over Philadelphia. But that did not stop DC from playing their best. They did a good job hanging with Sporting KC for the entire match, the only difference being Besler’s goal. Now, with homefield advantace, Sporting KC will be able to show off their new stadium for the entire Eastern Conference playoffs, something that I don’t mind seeing.
I won’t say too much about the entire season just yet since I will be writing up an “end of the season” report later this week, but this season was filled with ups and downs, but overall was much much better than 2010. A good debate going on right now is who is the real winner for the MLS Golden Boot Award? Both Dwayne De Rosario and Chris Wondolowski have 16 goals on the year. Wondo did it on slightly fewer shots, but De Ro also had 12 assists compared to Wondo’s three. So you could make the case that Wondo was a little more accurate on shots this year, but De Ro scored/created more goals.
Unfortunately, now is that time where I will start to wait for the 2012 season to kick-off, which is just five months away. Until then, I’ll enjoy the playoffs, try to find every bit of info I can on a new stadium in DC, and keep track of players coming and leaving. Let’s just hope that the playoffs and offseason are exciting.
PHOTO BY: LARRY FRENCH/GETTY IMAGES
