Effie Dawson, The Examiner
2008-07-04 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

I wasn’t that enthused when I learned that Baltimore’s Crystal Palace soccer team and the New York Red Bulls were playing at Broadneck High School in Arnold.

I like the idea of suburb soccer, a little variety in the summer spectator entertainment selections. I know parents are looking for ways to connect with their Wii-playing, texting and Facebooking children, and summer picnics don’t always cut it. But the $16 single-game tickets for the Crystal Palace-Red Bulls game — plus $5 parking fee — add up to a lot for a family of four or more. I could have taken my family to the Orioles-Royals game on Tuesday and enjoyed the $8 bargain-night tickets. I could have driven to Bowie for the Baysox-Harrisburg Senators game and paid $9 for adults and $6 for kids.

So I was ready to expect a modest crowd  to watch a bunch of reserves on a Major League Soccer team outdistance a team currently in third place in the United Soccer League’s Second Division. I didn’t buy into the pregame David vs. Goliath hype and figured the young minor league club would play well for a while, then fade against the faster, stronger Major League Soccer talent.

The event — and Crystal Palace — proved me wrong.

A crowd of 1,654 jersey-wearing, flag-waving spectators filled the high school stands, including an outnumbered but never drowned-out section of singing, smoke-bombing and vocabulary-enhancing Bulls fans. The Palace played its first season at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis but moved to UMBC’s Stadium for 2008. A scheduling conflict sent the game to the high school field.

The game gave Baltimore fans plenty to enjoy as well. Palace defender Andrew Marshall headed in a corner kick in the 17th minute, and then the team maintained its composure while playing a man down for the last 56 minutes of the game. Forward Gary Brooks volleyed a shot past goalkeeper and Edgewood native Zach Thornton for an insurance goal in the 75th minute, advancing the Palace into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup soccer tournament.

No, this wasn’t World Cup soccer. David Beckham was nowhere in sight. Former national team captain Claudio Renya and most of the other Red Bulls starters were taking a rest after facing the Chivas USA at home on Saturday and preparing for the Colorado Rapids on the road tonight.

Still, the U.S. Open Cup third-round match provided excellent competition for this soccer-crazy region. The tournament, first launched in 1914, gives teams like Crystal Palace the chance to test its competitive muscle. Clubs of all levels have opportunities to qualify for the tournament and a chance to face a higher-level team in the later rounds. Less well-known than national cups in Europe and South America, the U.S. Open Cup is recognized as the oldest American soccer competition, and, since 1992, the winner has advanced to the CONCACAF Cup against other North and Central America Cup winner.

Of course, Crystal Palace is no pickup soccer team. The team was founded in 2007 as a feeder program to the acclaimed south London soccer team of the same name. It plays in the USL, a 20-year-old program that most around here never heard of before the Baltimore team arrived. But the league, which includes developmental teams from U-13 through professional levels, has steadily developed grassroots support and corporate sponsorship. For Crystal Palace, ties to its English team and the USL gave it immediate credibility, and its 9-6-5 record in 2007 established it as a solid competitor.

Palace’s next U.S. Open Cup game is a quarterfinal match Tuesday against the MLS New England Revolution in Connecticut.

Whether or not it advances, Palace has already demonstrated that athletes don’t have to be multimillion-dollar draft picks with Hummer limousines and fawning entourages. There are great athletes and good competition at a variety of levels. With teams like Crystal Palace, the Bowie Baysox and Frederick Keys, we can enjoy pure athletic competition without the superstar component.

The novelty of Tuesday’s soccer game — the mismatch and the upset — contributed to the value of the event. But even without the gimmicks and despite the New York fans’ X-rated cheers, it was a pleasant family outing. It was probably enough to lure a few from the Broadneck neighborhoods north to a future game. 

Brooks’ reaction to his late-game goal captured the mood of the evening. “That was a beautiful finish,” he said in a gentle Jamaican lilt. “I’m telling the truth.”