DC United had another wild outing, but this time came away with three points as they beat Orlando City 3-2 before 14,040 at Audi Field on Saturday night. Goals from Jackson Hopkins, Louis Munteanu, and Kye Rowles were enough to secure the comeback win.

“What I saw the last game in New York, we had a good mentality and…something is growing up, something is emerging and I’m happy for the team because building the confidence for these is important that you have some good results, that you win sometimes again,” head coach René Weiler said after the match. “And even when it was a little bit lucky at the end, [it was] well deserved because everybody was pushing forward and I felt that the guys, they want to get out a good result.”

Tai Baribo was not on the team sheet for DC United after his hat trick on Wednesday night, as his thigh injury kept him out of the lineup. Louis Munteanu took his place among the starting XI as DC United searched for its first win since March 14th.

DC pushed forward in opening minutes, but couldn’t get anything on frame. Then, in the 10th minute, they had a moment of greatness. On the slow buildup, Matti Peltola got the ball and got it to Brandon Servania, who passed to Keisuke Kurokawa. Kurokawa found Jackson Hopkins in the center of the field just shy of the top of the penalty circle. Hopkins made a turn and then fired a low shot that got past Maxime Crepeau to give DC the early 1-0 lead. It was Hopkins’ second goal of the season and he scored for the second match in a row after he opened his account on Wednesday night.

 “[It was] just feel the feel of the moment,” Hopkins recalled after the match. “We talked a little bit about how their defenders dropped pretty far back when we’re going forward. So when the ball’s coming to me, I look to see if they’re dropping a little bit and they were and I’m had the time to take a touch and then I was right in the middle of the goal. Good shot.”

DC maintained its aggressive play after the goal., once again getting some opportunities on goal, but not getting any shots on frame. In the 27th minute, the Black-and-Red got a turnover thanks to Louis Munteanu’s determination, and the ball got to João Peglow, who passed it to Munteanu about 40 yards from goal. Munteanu launched an ambitious shot, but it still required a Crepeau save. Seconds later, Munteanu had another shot from the right side inside the box that once again Crepeau had to cover up, keeping it 1-0 to United.

In the 37th minute, Aaron Herrera was fouled about 25 yards from goal, setting up a free kick. Keisuke Kurokawa unleashes a curler that Crepeau had to save to ensure it went over the bar. Ensuing corner, Peglow almost had an Olímpico, but as it was falling short, Orlando once again ensured it went out of bounds rather than over the line. DC United was able to carry the 1-0 lead into the halftime break.

54′ – DCU on the break, the ball gets passed to substitute Jared Stroud in space. Stroud takes a shot from outside the box, but it’s saved by Crepeau

In the 56th minute, Orlando City leveled. With some passing in the buildup, Ivan Angulo was able to make a couple of moves to get past DC defenders on the left flank and send the ball into the middle of the box. Substitute Griffin Dorsey came in with the flying header, and Sean Johnson made the initial save. However, Justin Ellis, the 18-year-old striker, was there with the follow up right in front of goal to score and make it 1-1.

The fight was once again on, as both teams now were on level ground. But in the 67th minute, Orlando had an effort of brilliance. Tyrese Spicer on the break received a long ball on the left flank from a Adrian Marin pass. Spicer, behind the defense but at a very tight angle on the left side of the box, goes for the shot anyway. His laser zoomed past Sean Johnson, hitting the inside of the right post and in to make it 2-1 to Orlando City.

Orlando was right back at it off the restart, reclaiming the ball and once again sending a long ball behind the defense to Spicer. They got the ball into the box, unleashing a series of shots in traffic until Martin Ojeda blasted one into the net for what they thought was their third goal. However, the effort was called back due to offside on Spicer’s initial run. Still, it felt like Orlando was on the front foot.

Spicer had another run of brilliance in the 74th minute, putting several jukes on Silvan Hefti to get past him and get out in open space down the left side of the field. He sent a ball into the box that Justin Ellis got a head on right in front of goal. However, the attempt went right at Sean Johnson, and this time he was able to collect the ball.

Four minutes later, Justin Ellis got the ball on the right side of the field in open space, and he dribbled all the way into the box from the midfield line. He then crossed the ball to his left foot, unleashing a low shot that somewhat fooled Sean Johnson. However, Johnson was able to make the outstretched near post save.

Just as the clock was about to hit 80:00, DC United had an opportunity to level. Jared Stroud got the cross with space and sent a cross into the box. The cross found a streaking Louis Munteanu, who got a shot off as he was falling to the ground, however the shot went an eyelash wide of the net.

In the 84th minute, DC United got their equalizer, and it was the $7 million man. On the buildup, Louis Munteanu got the ball around 30 yards from goal, took a dribble and then tried a shot. The shot deflected off Orlando’s Luis Otavio and past Maxime Crepeau near post to make it 2-2. It was Munteanu’s first goal for DC United since being acquired in the offseason, and his celebration felt like he was happy to finally have the monkey off his back and his MLS goalscoring account opened.

“For young players in general, it’s not so easy,” Weiler said of Munteanu’s breakthrough. You play in a foreign country here in the [United] States…very physical, the game [is]. So it’s not the only player came in with some troubles at the beginning. He was two times out with an injury and he didn’t train the last 10 days with the team. But he played a good game and I’m happy for him because I saw his effort, the commitment he was fighting and he did a step forward over the last few months and for a strike, it’s important to score goals. And [I’m] happy for him and happy for the team.”

That goal from the Designated Player brought Audi Field an incandescent energy as the crowd looked to push DC United to get the match winner. “Yeah, they were behind us. They were amazing tonight. I’m happy that we could give back to them tonight,” Kye Rowles said. “They turned out in great numbers and obviously like you said, the volume was, was amazing and that really got us over the line especially the last 10-15 minutes. They ramped it up and I’m just stoked that we could give something back to them.”

“I felt it and I think even the team felt it, Weiler remarked on the energy the fans produced. “And yeah, it’s togetherness. We need the fans, they need us. And when we get out a good result with this story of the game, that is the best you can have.”

A minute later, Munteanu had another opportunity to take a shot, but that effort from outside the box was blocked. Matti Peltola also had a shot from 40 yards out that went well wide of the net. DC United had snatched the momentum and hoped to use it to grab the win.

In the 90th minute, DC United got the game-winner. After a brilliant buildup was blocked out of play for a corner kick, Kurokawa sent a long ball across goal. Substitute Jacob Murrell headed the ball on, as it was deflected off an Orlando defender, and Kye Rowles was there to head it into the net, sending the crowd into a frenzy for DC United to have the late lead.

With nine minutes of stoppage time to go, DC United had to close out the match. There were a couple of tense moments as Orlando pushed to try and get a late equalizer. In the end, DC United was able to hold on to claim its first win in over a month and three points in the table. And, it feels like the floodgates are open after two straight matches of huge goal totals after four straight without a goal.

“We had these four games in a row without scoring one single goal. Now we scored seven goals,” Weiler said with a smile. “Sometimes soccer is crazy. Now we are the team scoring a lot of goals, but at the end for the confidence, it’s important that all forward players are on this sheet, on the list of the scoring players.”

They hope to keep the energy going next weekend when they travel to take on New York City FC, and it feels like the locker room is starting to come together after this stretch of matches.