D.C. United Breaks Winless Streak

D.C. United might have hit rock bottom when they lost 2-1 to Trononto FC at RFK Stadium in a battle of the two worst teams in Major League Soccer.

That stretched the winless streak to 13 games, going back to March 9. That streak, which lasted 105 days, did not reach 14 games.

Chris Pontius converted a penalty kick and the Black-and-Red beat the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0. It was Pontius’ first goal of the season, and D.C. United second win of the season.

The victory did not lift United out of the MSL basement, but it was a start, and also a start for Pontius, who could be a key to continued success.

“I felt like I actually got into a groove in this game,” said Pontius. “It’s one of the first games this year where I felt like I got into a rhythm and felt like my old self again.”

Going into the game with San Jose, United, a finalist in last year’s Eastern Conference playoffs, had taken only six points of a possible 24 in regular season play. Onl[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]y four of a possible 24 had been earned at home, where United lost just once in 2012 at RFK Stadium.

Pontius has been battling injuries all season long. While the team was suffering through a winless streak that probably ended any hopes of advancing to MLS postseason play, the chase for the 2013 U.S. Open Cup continued for D.C. United.

United has advanced to the quarterfinals, where they are scheduled to host the New England Revolution on June 26. They got there by surviving a penalty kick shootout with the USL PRO Richmond Kickers after a scoreless draw, and a win over the Philadelphia Union.

“We’ve all been tested and we’ll continue to be tested the rest of this year and for the next busy two weeks,” said head coach Ben Olsen before the game with the Revs.

“It’s been brutal. It’s been brutal for the staff, the players. It’s been brutal for the organization. It’s been brutal for our fans.”

Going into the final week in June, D.C. United, with nine points, is the only team in the league to have not reached double digits. Toronto FC also has only two wins, but is next to the last in the Eastern Conference with 12 points.

The Montreal Impact leads the East with 29 points, followed by Philadelphia and the New York Red Bulls with 25 points each.

Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers top the Western Conference standings with 30 points each, followed closely by FC Dallas with 29.

The bottom dweller in the West is Chivas USA with three wins and 11 points. Chivas is also last in attendance with an average crowd of 9,122.

As a league, MLS’ unofficial average attendnce for 2013 is 17,536, but that is bolstered by the Seattle Sounders, who are drawing an average of 41,401. Los Angeles (21,948), Montreal (21,412) and Portland (20,674) are all averaging over 20,000.

Important to note that the three top U.S. franchises in attendance are all in the Western Conference.

Despite the 13-game winless streak, D.C. United has averaged 13,703 in 2013.

Problems With Chivas USA

For the momement the future of Chivas USA is clouded. The franchise, which shares The Home Depot Center, with the Los Angeles Galaxy, was launched to appeal to the vast hispnic population in the Los Angeles area of Southern California.

It has struggled on many levels, including personnel, results, owner/investors, attendance, among others.

Earlier this summer a round of rumors had the league taking over the American Goats. That rumor has been denied by the league.

And while a keystone of the league has been the stability of franchises to remain in their original markets, there is precident for a team to relocate. The original San Jose franchise relocated to Texas and became the Houston Dynamo.

With organized efforts underway in Florida to attrach an expansion franchise to Orlando and/or Miami, those efforts took a hit when MLS announced it’s 20th franchise would reside in New York City.

Maybe the Florida efforts would be better served by continuing to structure the transition of an existing franchise to make a move. At the moment, the only one in enough trouble is Chivas USA.

Currently Jorge Vergara, owner of C.D. Guadalajara, commonly known as Chivas in Mexico, pulls the strings with Chivas USA. How much longer he will want to deal with the problems of the MLS franchise, is known only to him.