Union’s scoring woes a sign that another striker may be needed; U.S. Open Cup run starts at D.C. United

Kacper Przbylko sat at his locker after the Union’s 1-1 tie with the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night looking utterly distraught. He barely moved for almost the entire time the locker room was open to the media, and didn’t even change out of his uniform.

As teammates and staff milled around him, Przybylko stared off into the distance. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. Assistant coach Dick Schreuder came by, and Przbylko didn’t have much to say. Fafa Picault followed, and only after a minute or two did Przybylko finally open up.

It was clear that his last-minute miss of a shot that would have won the game was replaying in his mind. Przybylko’s sliding volley of Jamiro Monteiro’s great ball over the Rapids’ back line sailed achingly over the crossbar, and with it went the Union’s chances of ending their winless rut.

“He’s a grown man, he knows himself he should be doing better‚” Union captain Alejandro Bedoya said. “For me as a veteran guy, tomorrow I’ll just talk to him and give it a day, overnight, sleep on it and then tomorrow is a new day. He is our best finisher around the box. You see it in training all the time, he just puts away chances, but it’s the game that matters. He’s been doing well ... We just can’t finish right now.”

Bedoya’s use of the plural noun was intentional and fair. His team took 26 shots against Colorado, with 10 players registering at least one attempt.

The good news is that Sergio Santos is showing signs of being the real deal. His goal against Colorado was the definition of a clinical finish: clean, sharp and with no questions asked.

Santos has played a total of 226 minutes over five games so far. He has three goals, and is averaging 1.4 shots per game. Przybylko has played nearly three times as many minutes and is averaging 3.8 shots per game, but has just four goals to show for it.

It’s hard to avoid a sense that the Union may need to shop for another striker this summer. This is not just because of their current scoring issues, but because the roster is thin at the position with Cory Burke sidelined and David Accam traded away.

“We have full confidence in the guys that are here to do the job - they’re the ones that have earned where we are in the table," Union manager Jim Curtin said Wednesday night. But Burke and Accam made important contributions, too: two goals for the former and four goals and two assists for the latter.

This isn’t to say the Accam trade was wrong; there were good reasons to make it. And it’s not to say Przybylko is a bad player. He can score, works incredibly hard and is a significant physical presence.

But right now, it seems that something more is needed.

The Union will enter the U.S. Open Cup with a road game for the first time since 2011, and just the third time in team history.

U.S. Soccer announced Thursday morning that the fourth round, when all 21 teams enter America’s oldest soccer competition, will see the Union visit D.C. United. The game will be played at Audi Field in Washington on June 12 at 7 p.m..

It’s also the first time since 2011 that the Union have been drawn against a MLS team in their opening game of the competition, instead of a team from a lower division.