Relying on the quality of their South American contingent -- with the help of an unexpected bit of invention from a heretofore marginalized youngster -- United had held off a spirited Charleston Battery side to secure another piece of hardware for their dedicated fans and give themselves a timely dose of inspiration during a draining phase in their long campaign.
"This is a great boost of confidence for the group, because it was a difficult tournament," said defender Gonzalo Martinez. "At the beginning we struggled a little bit and it was very difficult for us. But this lets us know that we were able to overcome that, and obviously it's a very special moment right now. It gives us the security and confidence to keep working hard because we know that we can achieve great things when we work hard together."
The scoresheet will show that United's Brazilians did most of the damage, with Luciano Emilio and Fred finding the net on either side of Ian Fuller's well-taken equalizer. But Fred's gamewinner was made possible by one of the team's most mercurial talents, Rod Dyachenko -- and ironically enough he did so without even touching the ball.
Entering the game just seven minutes in when Emilio re-aggravated a groin strain, Dyachenko struggled to unlock the Battery back line in the first half. But his dummy of Clyde Simms' 50th-minute pass opened up the space that Fred used to craft United's all-important second goal.
"We talked about it at halftime," said Dyachenko afterwards. "I was looking more for balls over the top because they were sitting in so much in the first half. We talked about secondary runners like Fred and Santino [Quaranta] and Ivan [Guerrero] coming in behind like that. It's one of those plays where Clyde played a ball in and I realized that Fred was coming in diagonally to the middle and it was just going right into his path, so I just let it go. Fortunately it worked out for us."
United have long been enamored of Dyachenko's touch and vision, even giving up a first-round SuperDraft pick to reacquire him from Toronto FC last year, and he's been an understudy to smooth playmakers like Christian Gomez, Jaime Moreno and now Marcelo Gallardo in the hopes that he'll someday step into the role. But his stock dropped as this season unfolded and even he admitted some surprise at being head coach Tom Soehn's first option off the bench.
"It feels good. I didn't know I was going to step in but I felt good, helping my team win," he said. "Hopefully this is our first step in our quest for the [MLS] Cup, you know?"
Indeed, the larger tone of the evening was set by a few worn-looking veterans who sat quietly and absorbed the moment, savoring the club's first trophy in four years but also fully cognizant of its fleeting nature.
"It's a great feeling," said Simms. "It's my first championship as a professional. So it's great. We're going to enjoy it for a couple of days but then we've got to concentrate on the season."
Thursday afternoon brings a transcontinental road trip for another crucial league match in San Jose on Saturday, and soon this Open Cup triumph will be a memory. United's next task is to ensure that it becomes the springboard for a late-season push, and not a consolation prize for a season of underachievement.
"Getting a chance to run around with a trophy in front of our fans, who deserve it more than anybody, is a great feeling," said Soehn. "You remember that stuff. There are a lot of things you forget but situations and moments like that you remember. You want to taste that again. I hope they all got a great taste of it because there are other things that we still have to accomplish."
But for a club that resides at a facility steeped in U.S. soccer history and consistently nurtures some of the loftiest ambitions in MLS, Wednesday evening offered a welcome reward for months of toil.
"It's another one that goes in the case," said captain Jaime Moreno of United's 12th major honor, every one of which he has been of. "They keep adding [up] and that's what we want, that's what we work for. It's a tradition. The team always tries to be in the big picture of big tournaments of MLS. ... Right now we're glad that this is over and we've got a championship."
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