Young D.C. United squad already displaying plenty of resolve

But these early returns — which included a two-goal second-half comeback in forging a 2-2 draw against the Portland Timbers on Saturday — portend well for a team and a bruised fan base that hasn’t had much to celebrate in years.

United (1-0-1) is playing proactive, high-energy soccer under first-year coach Troy Lesesne, and even with top scoring threat Christian Benteke scratched at the last minute and a deficit doubling early in the second half, the visitors stuck to the plan.

Some opportunities were squandered, others thwarted by Portland goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau. United’s persistence was rewarded on Mateusz Klich’s penalty kick in the 72nd minute and teenager Kristian Fletcher’s equalizer 10 minutes later.

“Even when we’re down one-nil, you can see us pushing the game,” Lesesne said. “When we’re down two-nil, we’re pushing the game. We’re down 2-1, we’re pushing the game. You can say ‘relentless’ is one of your values, but that’s the action behind it. That’s what it should look like to be a relentless team.”

Lesesne and the players said they probably deserved more than one point.

“We could have won the game. We should have won the game,” Klich said. “We were the better team. We had better chances.”

United showed its strong resolve against a Portland team (1-0-1) that had scored six goals in the first 151 minutes of the season, including four in the opener against Colorado.

“It would have been easy to pack it in and try not to let it get any worse,” said goalkeeper Alex Bono, who made one superb save. “But we got the one goal and then we felt that momentum really shift. There were moments after we drew level where we could have gone and found a winner. We had a really great, mature performance.”

The show of maturity came from a group that, in the late stages, included three locally trained prospects: Fletcher, an 18-year-old substitute from Bowie; Jackson Hopkins, a 19-year-old sub from Stafford; and Ted Ku-DiPietro, a 22-year-old starter from Oakton.

The finishing unit also included newcomers Christopher McVey, Lucas Bartlett, Aaron Herrera on the back line and Matti Peltola in defensive midfield. Returning forward Cristian Dájome replaced Benteke, who hurt his groin during pregame warm-ups. “I hope it’s week to week,” Lesesne said of Benteke’s injury.

Overlapping on the right flank, Herrera set up multiple opportunities. On the equalizer, his low cross buzzed out of Crépeau’s diving reach and connected with Fletcher on the back side for an easy finish and his second career league goal.

“Perfect ball from Aaron,” Fletcher said. “I just needed to be there.”

Unsatisfied with tying the match, United continued taking the game to the Timbers.

After United tied it, “Klich was pushing us back upfield [to restart the game] because we knew we had all the momentum,” Herrera said.

Lesesne said his team “proved something in themselves about the type of character we want to display.”

Nevertheless, “no one’s really satisfied,” he added. “And that’s a good thing, because we need to hold that edge about what we want to do and not be satisfied with the point when really the performance was probably more deserving the three points.”

The players credited Lesesne for instilling an aggressive mentality.

“You get that relentless type of attitude from him, and that passes down to us,” Bono said. “No matter what situation we’re in, no matter what the score is, there’s always something to play for.”

Fletcher added, “We’ve all bought into it.”

Klich said, “You can see the positivity around the club. We can’t wait for the next game” next Sunday in Cincinnati.

United still has a few things to clean up. Although the creation of scoring opportunities was good, the shooting was untidy. Passive defending led to Portland’s first goal when Santiago Moreno strolled free on the right flank and Dairon Asprilla slipped into position for a 10-yard shot.

On Portland’s second goal, Moreno brought down a stray cross on the back side and pushed the ball past the advancing Bono.

The Timbers Army — the green-clad fanatics behind the north goal — celebrated and Timber Joey, the lumberjack mascot, revved his chain saw.

United was unbothered. “We didn’t have any doubt for a second that we could turn the game around,” Fletcher said.

Last year, United did not record any two-goal comebacks.

“There’s a million excuses we could have used and we did not use a single one,” Bono said. “We knew Christian was going to be out and we decided nothing was going to change: the same game plan, the same aggression, the same style.”