WASHINGTON -- Craig Thompson was officially acquired by D.C. United on June 30. A day later, he found himself playing 45 minutes in his new club's 2-0 U.S. Open Cup win against Rochester, and just a week after that, he came on -- in a different position -- for the second half of United's Open Cup quarterfinal clash with Chicago, and played an important role in reversing the team's fortunes en route to a 2-1 overtime victory.
Even designated players aren't expected to produce that quickly.
"He came on really well," said Jaime Moreno, who took a pass from Thompson and set up Francis Doe for the game-tying goal on Tuesday. "He's only been with us, not even two weeks, and to step up and play the way he played tonight, I was impressed with his game."
Thompson began his career in a locale probably unfamiliar to even the most dedicated college soccer fan: the Colorado School of Mines, in Golden, about 15 miles west of downtown Denver. A native Coloradoan, he grew up watching the Rapids and still vividly remembers a first-hand interaction with the Mile High club's stars.
"When I was 13, I think, I actually did volunteer work for the Rapids," Thompson said. "I got to go in the locker room and see guys like [Marcelo] Balboa, and that was inspiring for me, just to be in that atmosphere as a little kid. They passed the ball around with me for a little bit. That was very inspiring."
At Mines, he excelled both in the classroom and on the field at the NCAA Division II program, breaking several school records for the Orediggers as a striker -- and he certainly seems to have struck gold with the timing of his arrival in Washington.
He was invited to join United's reserve squad as a guest player for matches against Toronto and Columbus, then found himself at the front of the line when head coach Tom Soehn, eager to rest his veterans, needed extra bodies for Open Cup action. After appearing at right back last week, a hamstring injury to Quavas Kirk opened the door for him to slot into right midfield against the Fire as Soehn looked for life after a lethargic first half.
"It's been good that I've had an opportunity to get in," said Thompson on Wednesday. "I just try to get in and work as hard as I can, give the team a boost with some energy."
Overcoming some rookie jitters, Thompson's work rate enabled him to cover plenty of ground along the D.C. right flank, contributing at both ends even as Chicago tried to regain their advantage with the deployment of veterans Justin Mapp and Gonzalo Segares in the same area. In fact, it was Thompson's dispossession of Segares -- who's been widely praised as the best left back in MLS this season -- that led to United's first goal.
"You could tell he was a little nervous, which I knew was going to happen -- I was the same way my first couple of games, and that was a tournament game, single-elimination, so the stakes were pretty high," said Clyde Simms.
"He always works hard, so you know he's going to have that. But I thought he did some other things pretty good. A couple times he tried to take on Segares, and Segares is a physical player himself, and usually comes out of those battles on the winning end whenever he plays against anyone. I think Craig did a good job of frustrating him, and he almost scored the [winning] goal, also, in the second half. I thought he did well."
Thompson remembers that chance, too, wincing as he recalls the shot he skipped into the outside netting, just wide of Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch's near post.
"Oh man -- I wish that one would've went in, that would've been awesome," he sighed, then smiled, adding, "I don't know if that goal is regulation size."
Thompson's contributions have already validated United's decision to part with a fourth-round supplemental draft pick for his services, and in a month's time, the investment will look even smarter if he can help D.C. secure their first U.S. Open Cup title since 1996.
"We liked his starting points," said Soehn. "You always look at qualities in a guy, and you put him in your organization and you think, 'what can we turn him into?' So he had a lot of those initial qualities. His first test went well, but there's a lot to go."
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