Last night in Germantown, Maryland, D.C. United defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1 in a U.S. Open Cup match. But that wasn't the only number that caught my eye this morning in Steven Goff's story in today's Washington Post.
The second number I'm talking about is 4,774, the number of people who showed up to watch the game at the Maryland Soccerplex, a public facility about 30 minutes (or more, depending on what time of day you leave) outside of Washington, D.C.
No, in aggregate it doesn't seem like that big a deal. There are more than a few minor league baseball crowds that are regularly bigger. And United usually draws close to 20,000 per game to RFK Stadium in the District.
But for the team to draw nearly 5,000 people to a location deep in the Maryland suburbs for a Cup competition that isn't exactly top of mind even with many of the country's Soccer fans, is something impossible to ignore. That it happened on a day when local temperatures in the area crested over 100 degrees is even more impressive.
Be sure to stop by DCenters later in the day for another match wrap-up.
