ON SOCCER: Truly United once again

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By John Haydon

Finally, D.C. United is healthy again. The club was badly hit by injuries last season but enters Saturday's meeting with the Houston Dynamo healthy for the first time since June.

Every player on the roster participated in training this week, and only backup goalie Josh Wicks will be sidelined against the Dynamo at RFK Stadium.

Coach Tom Soehn said his team is deeper than last year and he doesn't need to rush players back into the starting lineup.

"If it were last year I might not make the same decisions, but this year you can be kind of careful in not rushing guys back too soon," Soehn said. "We've got a deeper team, for sure."

United likely will have top goalie Louis Crayton back in the lineup.

Crayton missed United's first two games because of a quad injury and was replaced in the nets by Wicks, who joined United just 12 days before the club faced his old team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, in its season opener.

Wicks helped United earn a 2-2 tie at Los Angeles but made a mistake against the visiting Chicago Fire last week that allowed the Fire to steal a 1-1 tie.

Crayton's last appearance for United was a 1-0 loss at the Columbus Crew on Oct. 23.

"I've been ready for the last two weeks," Crayton said. "This has been the strangest ordeal for me in my entire career, that I've been out and up and down with an injury. I'm grateful that everything is over with, and I'm ready to do the job I was brought here for."

Crayton joined the club in August, replacing Zach Wells, and earned four shutouts in 12 games for a 3-6-3 record. His contract is up this summer.