For more than a year, D.C. United had harvested goals like precious minerals excavated from deep in the earth, with backbreaking sweat and toil. One gem, maybe two, but there often was nothing to show for dogged work.
“We used to come in [the locker room] after games and say, ‘Jeez, we were under pressure and somehow got out of there,’ ” General Manager Dave Kasper said this week. “We were tired.”
Despite several additions, United was locked onto the same gritty track this season: good enough to scrape out results but hardly a trophy contender.