D.C. United welcomed their first international opponent when they battled Club Deportivo Olimpia of Honduras to a 1-1 draw in the Telemundo 44 Challenge Wednesday night at Audi Field.
Dane Kelly scored his first goal for United while Travis Worra made five saves to secure the draw. Diego Reyes scored for the visitors.
United opened the scoring in the 15th minute when defender Kevin Ellis sent a long ball downfield to a streaking Dane Kelly. Kelly’s first touch set him up to finish the play with a strike that beat Olimpia goalkeeper Edrick Monjival for the go-ahead goal. The goal was Kelly’s first for the Black-and-Red.
Olimpia fired back just four minutes later in the 19th minute when Diego Reyes found space between the United defense and fired a right-footed effort that beat Worra to tie the game 1-1.
Worra and the United defense were put to the test by Olimpia’s attack in the 60th minute of the contest when Reyes again found himself with enough space in the box to whip a shot toward goal. Worra fended the shot off then quickly recovered to block John Paulo Suazo’s chance off the rebound.
Olimpia continued to push in the later stages of the match and got a chance when Rony Martinez fired a near post effort in the 83rd minute that Worra dove to stop. The block was Worra’s fifth save of the match and persevered the 1-1 draw.
The Black-and-Red will now shift their focus to their critical matchup against the Montreal Impact on Sept. 29, 2017 at 7 PM ET. With the Impact just four points ahead of United in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference it could prove to be the biggest match of 2018.
