As a longtime watcher of Loudoun United, having the team with a chance (even a marginal one) at their first franchise postseason berth is certainly heady stuff. In a way, there are a couple of fates that need to align for it to happen which make tonight’s game fun in a zen kind of way. Per the team:

Now, when you dive into it a little more, things get tough! I said last week on DC News Now before they played Pittsburgh that they wouldn’t make the playoffs, and while technically I’m wrong and hope to be proven actually wrong, the circumstances have been hard. With Pittsburgh’s win over Loudoun they claimed the first two tiebreakers over them, which is why they’re not mentioned in the possibilities.

That said and to dwell on that game for a second, it’s kind of crazy that Loudoun attempted the most passes in a USL game this season at 705 and still got outgunned in the xG battle per ASA, but it’s been a summation of Loudoun’s offensive struggles coming at the worst possible time. Credit to the Riverhounds, they were content to let Loudoun have the ball, countered when they found openings and the 2-0 win was a testament to it. Pittsburgh has been hot since July 6, with a record of 8-1-6. In fact, let’s look at some performances since July 6:

Pittsburgh: 8-1-6, 30 points

North Carolina: 8-6-3, 27 points

Hartford: 7-7-3, 24 points

Loudoun: 4-7-5, 17 points

If you don’t prefer those macro-ish numbers, an even smaller set shows since Loudoun’s then-convincing win over Tampa on August 17, they’ve played 10 games (2-5-3), and scored 7 goals, 4 coming in a September home win over Birmingham, and since that Rowdies road win, they’ve played five road games and scored three times, and have not scored on the road in 277 minutes.

That brings us to tonight’s game against Charleston, home of the League’s All-Time Single Season goal scorer, whose Golden Boot is a formality with 28 goals, 11 more than his next closest competitor (Nick Markanich). The Battery have a chance to surpass their single season win high by winning their 18th game of 2024 tonight against Loudoun. More than that, they have not lost in their last nine meetings with Loudoun and have lost once in 11 meetings overall.

The facts are long, as are the odds, but what’s done is done. Whatever happens tonight, Loudoun has to feel like, compared to last year and easily the four before that, this is a house money play and who knows, maybe they hit their three-leg parlay.

Location: Patriots Point, Charleson, SC

Kickoff Time: 6:00 pm

Available Streaming: ESPN+.