D.C. soccer notebook, 4/26/09

Nowhere on the field is managing D.C. United’s depth tougher than forward, where balancing the egos of the players that thrive on the glory of scoring goals is never easy.

Head coach Tom Soehn also has two unmatched veterans at the top of his roster, Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno. But Santino Quaranta and Chris Pontius made a strong argument for minutes up top by setting up both goals in D.C.’s 2-0 U.S. Open Cup play-in win over Dallas on Wednesday.

“I’m just trying to make plays, and I like playing with [Pontius] a lot,” said Quaranta, looking recovered from a hamstring injury that set him back to start the season. His play could create questions in Soehn’s mind about how best to use him.

“Back in the day when Tino came out – which was a long time ago, and he’s still such a young kid – [forward is] where he played,” said Soehn of Quaranta, who at 24 has eight seasons under his belt. “He did a really good job [vs. Dallas]… I thought he had a really good day, very energetic and caused them a lot of havoc.”

Freedom » Sauerbrunn biding her time

Washington Freedom defender Becky Sauerbrunn got her first taste of the U.S. women’s national team as one of two rookies selected for the Four Nations Tournament in China in early 2008.

She hasn’t been back with the team since, but she’s hoping the better she plays in WPS, the better her resume will look to national team coach Pia Sundhage.

“What sets national team players off from the rest of the pool is that they’re consistent day in and day out,” said Sauerbrunn, who’s prepared to be patient. If she plays well, she’s sure it’ll get noticed.

“I hear stories about players emailing Pia, calling and asking to be brought into camp,” said Sauerbrunn. “That’s just not the person that I am. I’m not comfortable with that. I’m not one to sell myself. I just hope that my play speaks for itself.”