Dax McCarty celebrates career milestone with "one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played"

Did you enjoy the New York Red Bulls joyous romp over D.C. United? Dax McCarty certainly did. It was a big win for RBNY for many reasons: thumping an old rival is always a highlight of a season; the team needed to banish the memory of an awful mid-week outing in Chicago; and if the team is going to make a serious run at the Eastern Conference title and Supporters' Shield it needs to convert the hypothetical advantage of games in hand into the real boost of points in hand.

All missions accomplished. It was a raucous, thrilling night at the Arena. And the captain enjoyed himself as much as anyone.

One of the most enjoyable games I've ever played in my career. Total team performance. That it came against DC is the cherry on top! #RBNY

— Dax McCarty (@DaxMcCarty11) August 31, 2015

Handy he'll remember this game, because it also happens to have been the match in which Captain Dax continued his march up the list of RBNY's all-time appearance records. Despite being subbed out in the 74th minute (it was as good a time as any to let key players take an early night), McCarty passed Carlos Mendes on the club's all-time, all-competitions minutes-played list. He now has 13,111 competitive minutes for the Red Bulls to his name - behind only Dane Richards (13,413) and Mike Petke (16,561).

In Chicago, Dax reached 13,000 minutes played for RBNY in a game he'd prefer to forget. Against DC, he got a game worth remembering for the occasion he became the man with the third-most competitive minutes of all time under his belt for RBNY.

He is also now third all-time, all-competitions for games started for RBNY: Dax's 147 starts trails Richards (148) and Petke (185). He remains sixth all-time, all-competitions for total appearances: 155 games played is fewer than Seth Stammler (157), Mendes (166), John Wolyniec (167), Richards (176) and Petke (197).

If you're only interested in MLS regular season records, McCarty remains fourth for all-time minutes played for RBNY with 11,427 minutes. Carlos Mendes logged 11,498; Richards has 11,958, and Petke amassed 14,060. McCarty did nudge past Mendes for third on the list of all-time league games started, but 129 regular season starts still trails Richards (133) and Petke 158). In all-time league appearances for RBNY, McCarty is sixth on 134. Wolyniec (142), Stammler (also 142), Mendes (146), Richards (159), and Petke (169) comprise the top five.

More congratulations, Captain. May the next career milestone be as wonderfully memorable as this one.