Christian Gomez

Maryland Soccerplex – Boyds, MD | 7:30 p.m.

	2	FT	0
Christian Gomez (PK) 74’ Ange N’Silu 90’+

Defending US Open Cup Champion DC United needed to put in a bit more work than they may have liked, but they eventually stopped the upset bid of the PDL’s Ocean City Barons with a 2-0 win at Boyds, Maryland.

Several key United injuries limited manager Tom Soehn’s lineup options, but he still chose to rest a few of the remaining regulars. However, DC were forced to use three of them as substitutes as the score continued to sit at 0-0 in the second half. One of those subs, Christian Gomez, converted a penalty kick in the 74th minute when Barons goalkeeper Tunde Ogunbiyi fouled Ange N’Silu inside the penalty area. Gomez stepped to the spot and converted past Ogunbiyi to finally give United a 1-0 lead.

In the final minutes of the game, the Barons nearly grabbed the equalizer. First the Barons Kyle Miller wound up on the ground in the penalty area with pressure from DC’s Marc Burch, but the referee allowed play to continue. The ball came right back in the box, and a header from Leon Brown forced United goalkeeper Milos Kocic to make a diving block.

After surviving several Baron’s corner kicks in the final minute, DC hammered the nail in the coffin when N’Silu scored off a rebound from Ogunbiyi’s save a free kick from Burch.

DC United will now play the Harrisburg City Islanders of the USL Second Division in the Quarterfinals on July 7.