At the beginning of the 2024 season, it was hard to tell what Loudoun United would bring to the table, as there was a variety of faces that rose to the forefront. This writer thought they could have made the playoffs if they stayed healthy. Sadly injuries, combined with an offense that dried up at the worst possible time (the team’s last 11 games saw them shut out 7 times) saw them on the outside of the playoff race despite tying the club record for wins in a year. So, as Loudoun enters its seventh season of existence, will it hit that lucky playoff spot?

What’s the roster look like?

In short, an awful lot like last season’s. The team brought back 13 of their 14 biggest players in minutes logged, including Hugo Fauroux (coming off a career and team high 10 shutouts), central midfielder Tommy McCabe (who set a new single season minutes mark for field players) and Zach Ryan, who threw in a second straight 10-goal season. Of the starters, only Keegan Hughes, who was on loan from Columbus, did not return to the team. Props to continuity!

That seems kind of boring! Did they sign anyone?

They did! There are a couple of intriguing players, the most recognizable is Moses Nyeman. The former D.C. homegrown was transferred to Belgium, however he could never find comfort there and quickly returned to MLS, spending time in the Real Salt Lake and Minnesota organizations before returning to the man who coached him in the Academy in Ryan Martin. I always share the story about how, after a Loudoun game when D.C. was concurrently playing, I shared with Martin how Nyeman was sent off with a red card for D.C. during the game. The expression on his face stayed with me. It was maybe a mix of shock or sadness, but not disappointment, just pure empathy for Nyeman. Nyeman still can reclaim some part of what gave him so much attention (he did only turn 21 in November), and if he can, makes it a really shrewd signing. There are a couple of other players on Academy deals for the season; D.C. product Ethan Pendleton joins Loudoun for the year ahead of moving to UCLA, and Aaron Hurge is another, as the Columbus Crew Academy product spends the summer in Leesburg before moving to Ohio State.

Past that, there are a couple of players who are returning to Loudoun, and have sights on bigger minutes; Cole Turner comes back for his third season after injuries riddled him for the last half of 2023 and most of 2024. When Turner was healthy, he provided underrated cover for the Loudoun backline, and like the team and the aforementioned Nyeman, if he can stay healthy and reclaim that form, proves to be a solid addition in a “new” signing. Abdellatif Aboukoura returned to Loudoun and signed a multi-year professional deal to stay, and was fourth in goals and second in shots despite playing a third to a half of the minutes of the starters (that should change this season). Riley Bidois misse a couple of months due to injury in the pre-Olympics game for New Zealand and he logged the 2nd best xG/90 (behind Zach Ryan) on the team.

Well it seems like Loudoun is hoping for good health, but where are the new signings?

I’m…not sure? As of this writing, the team has 18 players, which is nice, but only one goalkeeper so obviously that will change. But I think at this point if there’s moves to be made, they’re awaiting making them official and they’ve been practicing with the team already. That said, days before the season starting, if there were a signing that could be described as consequential, folks would have known about it by now.

Where does it leave us? Well five teams in the East scored the same or fewer goals than Loudoun’s 44, and four of those also missed the playoffs. It may not matter much; last year’s Champion in Colorado Springs scored 48. Loudoun’s defense was stout with 39 goals amounting to 6th best in the League. The defense clearly works, will the offense when it’s called upon?

So how will they line up? Something like this, or maybe it’s wrong, it’s preseason!

So, bottom line it for me.

I dunno man, there are a couple of variables to figure out; the East has a new team as Lexington moved up from League One, and there’s been notable improvements in teams like Miami (who added Argentine and Portland Timbers alums Sebastian Blanco and Lucas Melano to go with former D.C. keeper Bill Hamid), Charleston replaced one top shelf goal scorer (Nick Markanich) with another (Cal Jennings), and so on. Loudoun’s schedule is a little more balanced between home and away dates in the last third of the season so they won’t feel the need to try and collectively hang on for dear life.

Emotionally, I want Loudoun, Martin, Nyeman and everyone in between to get that playoff run. Intellectually, I have a hard time reconciling that with thinking that last year’s group can find (and keep) another gear in the fall again.