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2013 D.C. United season

D.C. United
2013 season
General Manager Dave Kasper
Head Coach Ben Olsen
Stadium RFK Stadium
MLS Eastern Conference: 10th
Overall: 19th
MLS Cup Playoffs Did not qualify
U.S. Open Cup Champions
Atlantic Cup Runner-up
Top goalscorer League: Dwayne De Rosario (3 goals)
Luis Silva (3 goals)
Kyle Porter (3 goals)

All: Dwayne De Rosario (8 goals)
Highest home attendance 18,019 vs. New York Red Bulls, 13 April 2013
Lowest home attendance 10,116 vs. Houston Dynamo, 8 May 2013
Average home league attendance Regular season: 13,718

The 2013 D.C. United season was the club's eighteenth, and their eighteenth season in Major League Soccer, the top division of American soccer. The regular season began on March 2 and concluded on October 27.

Outside of MLS play, the club competed in the U.S. Open Cup. Also, for the first time in their history, they played in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic, a preseason tournament to be held in February, after participating in the Carolina Challenge Cup for the past five seasons.

After a promising 2012 campaign, United's form took a sharp turn downward as injuries, underachievement from offseason acquisitions, and a loss of form caused the team to record the worst season in MLS history. The extremely poor season came as universal shock to fans and media, who thought United would be one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference, and a potential candidate for the MLS Cup title.

Despite their poor league play, United qualified for the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League by winning the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on 1 October. That marked their 13th major honor, the most in North American soccer history.

After four consecutive seasons of failing to qualify for the playoffs, D.C. United returned to the playoffs by finishing second in the Eastern Conference, and third in the overall tables, amassing a total of 58 points from a record of 17–7–10 (wins, losses, draws). In their return to the playoffs, D.C. United defeated their Atlantic Cup rivals, New York Red Bulls, 2–1 on aggregate. In the Eastern Conference Finals, D.C. United fell to Houston Dynamo 4–2 on aggregate, making it the furthest D.C. United went in the MLS Cup Playoffs since 2006.

Since neither the San Jose Earthquakes nor Sporting Kansas City reached MLS Cup 2012, D.C. United narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League, which would have been United's third appearance in the newly revamped Champions League, their thirteenth overall CONCACAF club tournament, and their first since the 2009–10 season.


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