It's rarely been the case in recent years, but D.C. United has started taking the U.S. Open Cup seriously. It took the revolutionary step of fielding a first-choice lineup against New England Tuesday and reached the final with a 3-1 win. The Revs, by contrast, rested several players, with elimination the predictable consequence.
"We have been struggling in the league, so anytime we have a chance to win a trophy, we are all over it right now," said defender Devon McTavish. "Everyone is taking the Open Cup very seriously. It has shown with the results we have gotten, grinding stuff out. We are in the final, and that's where we want to be."
"United's challenge was avoiding overconfidence against a watered-down opponent," writes Steve Goff, noting that the Revs were missing Steve Ralston, Matt Reis and Taylor Twellman, with Michael Parkhurst still at the Olympics. "For us, we have to look past that and say, We have to do the job here," said Santino Quaranta, scorer of United's second goal.
Having been eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and the Superliga already this season, and with a playoff spot in MLS far from guaranteed, it seems that minds at RFK were suddenly concentrated on the team's most realistic title chance this year. After all, a trophy's a trophy, no matter how small.