Professional outdoor soccer is back at last in Philadelphia -- and with a win to boot.
The Philadelphia Union officially kicked off its season against DC United at Lincoln Financial Field tonight with the franchise's first win, 3-2.
It started well for Philadelphia as striker Sebastian Le Toux drove a header in off Roger Torres' cross to the near post in the fourth minute and the Union led 1-0.
Le Toux added another in the 40th minute on a gorgeous counterattack off Danny Califf clear of a United corner. The Union led 2-0 at the half.
But DC United struck back to tie, first on Santino Quaranta's 20-yard strike in the 64th and then on a horrible mistake by Union keeper Chris Seitz, who dropped the ball while attempting a clearing dropkick at the edge of the penalty area. It fell at the feet of United's Jaime Moreno, who slotted it home into the empty net in the 70th minute.
The Union, though, roared back when Le Toux drilled a free kick through a United wall for his hat trick in the 80th minute. The free kick was awarded when DC's Dejan Jakovoic was red-carded for bringing down the Union's Alejandro Moreno as the last man. 3-2 Union in the 88th.
Vice President Joe Biden and former Penn State soccer coach Walter Bahr conducted the ceremonial first kick in front of about 34,870 people on a glorious night, perfect for soccer, in Philadelphia.
The Union is without head coach Peter Nowak, however. Nowak is Polish and suffered personal losses in the plane crash Friday that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Russia. Assistant John Hackworth is running the team tonight.
Source: Express Times
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