DC United - New Stadium, Dry Seats and A Sweet Finish

We temporarily interrupt this stream of Costa Rica Adventure posts to bring you something local: our first DC United Game in their new stadium.

The at times heavy rain and the 2 hour late start weren't the best omens for a night at the soccer pitch, but I'm glad we ignored them and met our friends Eric and Laura at the game. What we found was a new stadium that was sized far better than RFK, with a selection of interesting foods to eat, and best of all, covered seats. Our seats, section 125 a few rows from the top of the stadium, were not only sheltered from the rain, but had easy access to bathrooms and the food standing serving arepas. Yum!

The game flip-flopped back and forth, with DC United scoring, following by Orlando, and repeating this until it was tied at 2 apiece. It was however, in extra time, that things really got exciting:

Acosta's game-winner came just seconds after Rooney sprinted back to stop an Orlando City breakaway at midfield with the D.C. United net empty. Rooney then spun around and booted a long crossing pass to Acosta, who headed it into the net from the left corner of the six-yard box for his fourth goal of the season.

Rooney stopped certain disaster and created the game winning play all in a few fleeting seconds; it was an amazing bit of action to watch.

Much of the stadium is a vast improvement over RFK. Though, I do partially miss sitting a section over from the fan clubs, which beat drums and chanted the entire game as the stands unnaturally gyrated. They're still beating drums and chanting, we were just sitting a safe distance away from them. On the other hand, I didn't get showered with beer, so that's a plus.

I was only partially prepared for the clear bag policy, which meant that I had to make do with a ziplock bag rather than a more-robust clear plastic shoulder bag. At least I can use this as an excuse to buy another bag, albeit one that's single-purpose.

What really gets me, however, is the insanely high food prices. I know stadium food is expensive, but c'mon - $10 for a pupusa? And, the rules strictly prohibit bringing in food, so you've got no choice but to pay the price. Still, that's par for vending at professional sports events, so I can't really complain.

Because of the rain, I held off on bringing my DSLR. Next time, I'll come better equipped to capture the action. Enjoy a few cell pics below, I certainly enjoyed capturing them!