The last time D.C. United drew as big a crowd for a league match as it did on Saturday for its 1-1 draw with Los Angeles, Ethan White was in it.
But three years after being in the upper deck at RFK Stadium, among the nearly 36,000 who watched United pummel the Galaxy, 4-1, White played an integral role in helping D.C. preserve a 1-1 draw with the same team in front of 26,622.
Not bad for a MLS regular season debut, particularly one that White had barely four hours to prepare himself for after fellow rookie Perry Kitchen took ill.
“I was very nervous,” White said. “When I got the call, I was nervous. It’s a regular game. Playing in front of Maryland in front of 8,000, it was the same noises, still got to communicate and stuff.”
There’s never been any doubt of the 6-foot, 183-pound White’s physical capabilities, but any conversation with him or United head coach Ben Olsen doesn’t go on for long without broaching the subject of staying mentally focused for the duration of a match.
“Physically, he’s pretty special,” Olsen said. “We asked him to be an extremely competitive, hard defender that plays simple. We don’t need him making the game. We don’t need the ball at his feet too much. We want him to be a guy that makes the next pass and makes sure that nothing happens on his watch defensively. When he has a job like [Juan Pablo] Angel to deal with, that Angel has a very, very long night. I think that’s what type of defender he can be, a la C.J. Brown. I told him he can have a long, very good career by just being a real tough-nosed defender that get the ball to feet and concentrate for 90 minutes.”
White’s been showing the D.C. United staff his physical capabilities since he joined the team’s academy at age 16. Raised just outside of D.C. – a graduate of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High – White is a Maryland soccer product through and through, having played for both the Potomac Cougars and Bethesda Arsenal before becoming a Terrapin.
But the professional game was always calling, and there were summer practice sessions with D.C. United’s first team before he left College Park where he was hard to miss. In addition, because he was designated “homegrown” and could avoid the MLS draft after two years at Maryland, White made an easy transition to MLS.
“It definitely relieved some stress,” White said. “I didn’t have to worry about where I was going. I knew I was going to be at D.C. I knew the coaches, I knew some of the guys on the team already. It was a more comfortable transition since I had practiced with them in the summer before I came here.”
One teammate in particular is D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid, who White knew before the two became academy teammates. They’re now roommates on the road, but White saved Hamid in the first half at home on Saturday, clearing a shot off the goal line when the goalkeeper darted off his line to disrupt a cross but was unable to get his hands on the ball.
“I’m already comfortable with Bill,” White said. “I know where he likes me, where he usually tells me to go. I can hear his voice at all times.”
When Andy Najar joined the White and Hamid on the field in the second half, it marked the first time that three homegrown players had appeared at the same time for an MLS team.
White knows that of the three, he was the least expected to see the field this season, especially after injuring his calf on the first day of training in January and then slowly working his way into the coaching staff’s good graces over the course of the next two months.
“It was definitely a nice reward of all the hard work I had in preseason,” said White, who made his D.C. debut three days before the Galaxy match against Philadelphia in a U.S. Open Cup qualifier. “I’m just slowly working my way up from being the guy that needed to get all of his work done and make some changes to making my start.”
After White held Angel at bay for 90 minutes, Olsen said “for the most part, he was a stud,” something pretty remarkable for White, who said Olsen was his favorite D.C. player growing up.
“We’ve said all along that he’s a guy who seems like he’s big-game ready,” Olsen said Tuesday. “He wants to be in real games. He has a good confidence about him. I’ve asked him now to make sure it’s not a one-time deal. This is the professional level. It’s not good enough to play one good game and then have a game where you are not so good. Getting his head around consistently having that type of performance is always the trick with young guys.”
Olsen may not have to call on White this weekend at Toronto, but he and White both now know that no notice is no problem.
“It’s good to know that I can possibly step in and fill in for anybody who needs to be filled in for, but I still have some work to do, and whenever my time is called, I’ll step in,” White said. “I’m content with where I am at the moment. I know I still have work to do, but I understand.”
