D.C. United rounded off its 13-day training camp in Fort Laduerdale with a third consecutive exhibition win over Trinidad and Tobago's Under-20 squad.
Following Monday's 5-1 victory over Canada's U-20's and a 4-0 midweek triumph against Florida International University, the Black-and-Red posted a 4-0 result over today's opposition at a rain-drenched Lockhart Stadium.
Joseph Ngwenya began the scoring in the 33rd minute, receiving a Dax McCarty pass at the edge of the area before turning and firing a shot into Trinidad and Tobago's goal.
This 1-0 United advantage lasted until halftime, when Head Coach Ben Olsen made wholesale changes to his team. In the second half Chris Pontius partnered trialist Charlie Davies up front, and the two forwards combined well to enhance United's offensive production.
In the 68th minute Pontius began a strong run, laying the ball off to Davies in the opposing area. The U.S. National Team forward navigated his way through Trinidad and Tobago's backline, crossing the ball into the 6-yard box to midfielder Kurt Morsink. Morsink converted the pass, giving United a 2-0 lead.
One minute later Davies got on the scoresheet himself, taking a through ball from Pontius and placing a shot at the near post to put the Black-and-Red up 3-0. Davies secured a brace in the 75th minute, this time controlling the ball at the top of the area before running past Trinidad's centerbacks and blasting a shot into the upper corner. With a 4-0 lead, United held possession for the remainder of the contest to ensure a third and final victory this week.
OLSEN'S THOUGHTS
After the match United Head Coach Ben Olsen had this to say of his team's victory, "This was another pretty good performance. I was a little disappointed in the first stretch [of the match], but I thought we fixed that and in the second half we had a better performance."
He continues, "It's important when you are playing teams who don't have as much quality not to pick up bad habits and to continue playing the way that we want to play against better competition. It was a good day and we scored some goals without letting any [goals] in."
When asked about the first portion of preseason in Fort Lauderdale, Olsen was complimentary of United's effort. "I couldn't have asked for a better effort from every one of [the players] throughout this camp. Now in the next camp in California we are going to ratchet things up and start building a little bit more on who we are as a team. I think we're very excited about the group right now, and the staff is looking forward to the next camp."
United departs Fort Lauderdale tomorrow morning before heading for a 10-day training camp in Oxnard, California from February 16 through February 26.
SCORING SUMMARY
D.C. United - Joseph NGwenya 33' (Dax McCarty)
D.C. United - Kurt Morsink 68' (Charlie Davies)
D.C. United - Charlie Davies 69' (Chris Pontius)
D.C. United - Charlie Davies 75'
D.C. UNITED FIRST HALF LINEUP
Chase Harrison; Jed Zayner, Rodrigo Brasesco, Perry Kitchen, Marc Burch; Andy Najar, Clyde Simms, Dax McCarty, Branko Boskovic; Joseph Ngwenya, Josh Wolff.
D.C. UNITED SECOND HALF LINEUP
Joe Willis; Chris Korb, Julius James, Conor Shanosky, Daniel Woolard; Santino Quaranta, Kurt Morsink (Yang Men 76'), Brandon Barklage, Andy Najar (Blake Brettschneider 60'); Charlie Davies, Chris Pontius.