[HOMEGROWN WATCH] One of the pleasant surprises for D.C. United in Saturday's 1-1 tie with Los Angeles was the play of homegrown signing Ethan White, who debuted in the middle of the backline in place of the ailing Perry Kitchen.

White looked anything like a rookie on D.C.'s backline and made a key play in the game when he cleared a shot from Mike Magee off the line that could have put the Galaxy up by two goals.

“For the most part, he was a stud,” D.C. United coach Ben Olsen told mlssoccer.com. “The guy’s as athletic as you are going to see and he seems to be a gamer. He seems to be a guy that when you give him a stage he does pretty well, and those are the guys ultimately you want on your team.”

Bill Hamid made his first start in the D.C. goal, and Andy Najar, the 2010 MLS Rookie of the Year, came on the second half, making D.C. United the first MLS team to field three homegrown players at the same time.

FUTURE PROSPECTS. Second-year homegrown player Francisco Navas Cobo assisted on Jason Garey's goal that gave the Houston Dynamo a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City in MLS Reserve League action on Monday.

Other homegrown players to start were Tyler Deric, Josue Soto and Alex Dixon for Houston and Kevin Ellis for Sporting KC.

Academy players to make appearances included U-18s Abe Matamoros, Nono and Chance Bergen (Houston) and U-16s Nate Opperman and Wes White (Sporting KC).

CONCACAF UNDER-20 UPDATE. FC Dallas defender Moises Hernandez started at left back in the USA's 2-1 loss to host Guatemala in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Under-20 Championship.

Sacir Hot (New York), the only other MLS homegrown representative on the U.S. under-20 national team, didn't play in the USA's three games.

Neither player has played in MLS.

Canadian U-20 star Russell Teibert returned to the Vancouver Whitecaps and came on for Jay DeMerit in the second half of their 3-1 loss at Houston.

Canada also failed to qualify for the 2011 Under-20 World Cup, falling to Mexico, 3-0.

2011 HOMEGROWN PLAYERS
GP-G PLAYER TEAM
5-0 Nizar Khalfan (Vancouver)
4-0 Ruben Luna (FC Dallas)
4-0 Andy Najar (D.C. United)
3-1 Juan Agudelo (New York)
3-0 Russell Teibert (Vancouver)
1-0 Tristan Bowen (Chivas USA)
1-0 Keith Makubuya (Toronto FC)
1-0 Ashtone Morgan (Toronto FC)
1-0 Alex Dixon (Houston)
1-0 Ethan White (D.C. United)