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Major League Soccer

New Orleans Storm (A-League) vs. D.C. United (MLS)

Thursday, March 5, 1998
Zephyr Field, kick-off 7:05pm

STORM 2 (Kuhn, 22, 57)
D.C. United 2 (Harkes, 11, Sanneh, 86)

With the Storm's two starting forwards from last year moving on to MLS clubs this season, there was a great deal of concern as to who could/would step up and perform as did Stern John and Mickey Trotman. Those concerns were largely alleviated last night when Tony Kuhn scored two goals against the MLS Cup holders in an exhibition match last night at Zephyr Field, the Storm's new home ground.

The match began with back-and-forth long balls for the first ten or so minutes. United began to settle into a groove by then and took the first corner kick of the game after mounting an attack which had to be deflected across the goal line by Storm D Andrew Restrepo. A minute later, Jaime Moreno busted the Storm defense and fed a nice low ball to national team
captain John Harkes for the first goal of the night. The ease with which the champs broke up the Storm defense concerned many on the bench and in the stands. United kept the pressure up, with a quick re-start in the 19th minute that resulted in a shot which barely went wide. One minute later, Moreno took another shot from 25 yards out that went just above the crossbar.

The Storm defense got over being rattled and badgered by the United midfield and forwards about mid-way through the first half. Once they settled in, they began setting up opportunities for their mates up front. In the 22nd minute, Glenn Benjamin (M) made a great cross to Billy Owens (F), who shuffled the ball to his fellow forward Kuhn. Tony slammed the ball into
the back of the net and tied the score.

Both sides dug in hard on defense, and the midfield became a battleground for the rest of the half. In the 24th minute, a flurry of fancy ball-handling and passing by United ended in another shot just over the crossbar, taken this time by Wegerle. The back-and-forth fight continued to
the 32nd minute, when Marco Etcheverry expertly fed Wegerle, who was about 18 yards out. Roy lobbed the shot a bit, though, and it was deftly headed out by Storm D Chris Owens for a corner kick.

The frustration of not being to get the ball deep began to show towards the end of the first half. In the 41st minute, United captain Etcheverry came in hard from behind with both a trip and an elbow on Glenn Benjamin and was immediately sent off. The United players surrounded center referee Tenilius and argued their case, but the man in fuschia was having nothing to do with
a hack from behind. Etcheverry went off and play continued with United down a man. Tight defense from the champs kept the score at 1-1 after 45 minutes.

The Storm came out hard at the beginning of the second half, with a Rocke-Owens-Gentile combination that placed the ball 1' from the goal line, dead. With nobody there to finish, United reserve keeper Tom Presthus was able to recover and clear. John Harkes showed some excellent defensive skills in several shut-downs of Storm attacks, but an outside drive by Glenn Benjamin in the 57th minute was crossed by Benji to Kuhn, who was dead center ten yards from goal. Another ball slammed to the back of the net by the Storm's latest star.

With the upstart A-Leaguers now in the lead, things got a good bit more intense and exciting. United played like a team determined to leave New Orleans with at least a tie, preferably a win. The intensity lead to some mis-judgements by Storm players, with Ricardo Blanchard (M) being booked in the 59th minute for a slide tackle that came in on Moreno's 8 o'clock
position. A blatant trip in the 64th minute earned Tony Kuhn a booking as well. The Storm were doing their best to capitalize on their one-man advantage, pushing up at every opportunity. A lob from the corner of the penalty area by Gabriel Gentile (M) to Billy Owens in the 75th minute was headed out at the last second by United, and the back-and-forth at midfield resumed.

What was beginning to look like a big upset for the Storm vanished in the 86th minute, when Richie Williams fed a great ball to Tony Sanneh, who found the net and equalized for United. Harkes did an excellent job of pulling the defense to one side, leaving Sanneh open in the middle. Both teams settled into a strong defensive finish at that point, determined not to give
up any more goals. That's where the match ended, 2-2. The champs discovered they have some ground to cover to get back to top form, and the Storm have found a new forward combination to hang their hopes on.

New Orleans Storm

18 G    Tom Dutra
2    D    Andrew Restrepo (Renform, 45)
4    D    Dale Edwards (Norwood, 72)
5    D    Colin Rocke
20 D    Chris Brown
8    M    Glenn Benjamin (Cavitt, 69)
10 M    Gabriel Gentile (Rebuck, 81)
15 M    Ricardo Blanchard (DePaco, 85) (YC, 59)
11 M    Lester Felecian (Hook, 65)
6    F    Billy Owens
12 F    Tony Kuhn (YC, 64)

Substitutes for New Orleans

0    GK    Kevin Mooney
1    GK    Stephen Hoogerwerf
3    D        Brandon Cavitt
7    M        Louie Smotherton
9    F        Danny Rebuck
13 M        Ben Hook
14 M       Marco Mtheuibu
17 F        Zion Renform
19 D        Sean Norwood
21 M        Jose Londano
22 M        Neil Daniels

D.C. United

1    GK    Scott Garlick (Presthus, 45)
18 D      Carlos Llamosa
6    D      John Harkes
28 D      Carey Talley
8    M      Brian Kamler
10 M        Marco Etcheverry (captain) (RC, 41)
16 M      Richie Williams
20 M      Tony Sanneh
25 M      Jeff Aunger
9    F       Jaime Moreno (Olsen, 73)
17 F      Roy Wegerle (Wood, 73)

Substitutes for D.C. United

2    GK    Mark Simpson
4    D       Clint Peay
7    F        A.J. Wood
11 D       Mario Gori
14 F       Ben Olsen
19 M      Mike Slivinski
22 GK    Tom Presthus
26 M       Lyle Yorks
27 D        Danny Care
30 D        Curt Onalfo
31 D        Brandon Lieb
33 M       Judah Cooks

Officials: CR: Tenilius, AR: Munoz, ?

NOTES: Kuhn only arrived in New Orleans on Tuesday, so he only had one day of practice with the Storm. U.S. International Jeff Agoos made the trip with United, but did not dress out. All of the United players stayed on the pitch after the match to sign autographs and take photos with the kids, including Etcheverry. Match officials and park security wisely let Marco stay on the bench (he had changed at halftime anyway) for the second half, so he could be available to meet fans afterwards.

BALL MANAGER REPORT: I'm pleased to report that the Justin Branley, age 9, who is by far the best ball manager in the A-League (or at least his dad thinks so), did an excellent job behind the far goal. The match was played with just one ball, so the kids around the pitch had to hustle to keep things moving. They didn't mind a bit working for their buddies on the Storm and for the big-leaguers. Justin chased down several Jaime Moreno shots in the first half as well as two long almost-goals by Danny Rebuck of the Storm in the second half.

GREAT DC UNITED PUBLIC RELATIONS: If these guys aren't naturals with the kids, then I highly recommend the United PR staff and consultants to anyone who wants to make a good impression with kids. Not only were the MLS champs available to the kids after the match, but they were polite and genuinely interested in making sure the kids had a good time. While I'll concede that the MLS salary cap probably doesn't build the egos that one sees in Major League Baseball or the NBA, these guys are by far the best big-leaguers in my book. They've set a high standard for the Rapids next week and the Burn later in the season in terms of image.

Special thanks to United forward Ben Olsen for cutting through the crowd around Marco with Justin's mini-ball and getting him to sign it. Also, kudos to keepers Garlick and Presthus for thanking the kids after the match.