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Olsen records hat trick as D.C. United routs Red Bulls

Jun 10, 2007 - 9:00 PM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Ben Olsen recorded his first career hat trick Sunday as D.C. United used a second-half scoring surge to beat the New York Red Bulls, 4-2.

It was the fourth victory in the last five games for D.C. United, which extended its unbeaten streak to six consecutive games.

Since opening the campaign with three consecutive losses, United (4-3-2) has clicked on all cylinders to climb into a tie with Chicago (4-5-2) for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

"Since the start of the season, I've always asked the guys to give us 90 minutes," United coach Tom Soehn said. "This is the first time we got close to that bar."

Olsen kicked off his career performance in the 15th minute, heading a cross from Joshua Gros past New York goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus to make it 1-0.

Dema Kovalenko tallied three minutes later to forge a 1-1 tie, and United did not reclaim the lead until the 49th minute, when Luciano Emilio received a perfect through ball from Fred in the middle of the scoring box and one-touched a shot past Waterreus.

The rest of the day belonged to Olsen, who netted his second goal in the 72nd minute. He settled a crossing feed from Brian Carroll and sidestepped a defender before rifling a leftfooted blast from the upper-right corner of the scoring box.

"It was just one of those days," Olsen said. "You'd probably have to go back to junior high for the last time I scored that many goals."

"I'm a little mad at (Olsen)," Soehn joked. "I thought he could have had four or five (goals)."

Waterreus got a hand on the shot, but the ball trickled past him and eluded another New York defender to find the back of the net, giving United a 3-1 lead.

Olsen saved his best for last, rocketing a rightfooted shot from well outside the 18-yard line to make it 4-1 in the 84th minute.

The Red Bulls answered less than 60 seconds later on Juan Pablo Angel's team-leading seventh goal of the season. However, it was not enough for New York (6-3-2) to avoid its second loss in the last three games.

United goalkeeper Troy Perkins made two saves and benefitted greatly from his team's offensive explosion. Waterreus stopped three shots.