You mean, there’s a U.S. match tonight? Oh, right — yeah, I’ll be at Babylon Futbol Cafe in Bailey’s Crossroads to catch the action…
Meanwhile, Real Maryland and Crystal Palace USA have announced a preseason match on April 10 at UMBC. The winner will be awarded the DeOrsey Maryland Cup, which was founded last year in honor of the late Matt DeOrsey. Crystal Palace president and Co-Manager Pete Medd was a teammate and close friend of DeOrsey’s at Middletown High School and at Towson.
This is DoOrsey’s bio, courtesy of CPUSA: Matt grew up playing soccer in Montgomery County, winning five state cups with his youth club team, the Potomac Alliance. He also led Potomac to the USYSA National Final Four in 1992. At Middletown High School, where he was a two time All-State selection, he set team career records for goals scored (65) and points (100). In 50 regular season games during his four years on varsity, the Middletown Knights went undefeated and DeOrsey and Medd led the Knights to the Maryland State Championship in 1993. He was a seven-time member of the Maryland ODP team and also represented Maryland on the Region 1 ODP team. He played at Towson University in Baltimore leading the Tigers to the America East Conference regular season championship in 1998. Matt went on to play professionally in the USL for the Delaware Wizards. DeOrsey died suddenly at his home of complications of an epileptic seizure in Palm Beach Florida on January 23rd 2008, two days before his 31st birthday. He is survived by his wife Kimberly, daughter Elle, son Remington and stepson Tyler.
Palace opens its season April 17 vs. Pittsburgh, and Real Maryland starts on Apr. 25 when it hosts Bermuda.
The Northern Virginia Royals also boosted their staff, hiring former D.C. United midfielder Josh Gros. A number of ambitious endeavors are going on with that club — don’t be surprised to see more announcements from them soon.
At the younger level, the battle for the Tiffany Trophy begins Saturday when D.C. United and Real Madrid academy teams will meet on the main field at RFK Stadium prior to the United/Houston MLS match. The tournament also includes three other Washington-area clubs along with Blackburn (England), Saprissa (Costa Rica) and Chivas de Corazon (Mexico). The rest of the schedule can be found here.
