When we were here last week, the mention of Loudoun playing with house money to an extent was alluded to; they’d finish this week the same as last, on top of the East and the USL as a result, so the chance to keep good mojo working was key. In a season where they’ve won away at venues they had not won at before, they slayed the Hounds 2-1 for only their second win in 17 overall games with Pittsburgh. Big times, but it was not the most notable thing to happen this week to Loudoun. What to make of it all?

On having a good guy. Last week was the hot take Loudoun should sign Pedro Santos to a full season deal, which they did in the hours before their game Saturday. Watch the common thread between both Loudoun goals:

Whether it was centrally, or playing right back later in the game, Santos either started a counter or kept it going through the game; the latter were two examples and there were others that were unsuccessful. Having a guy with that vision to try stuff and trust the younger legs is something Loudoun hasn’t had in a couple of years, allowing them to get higher up more and show off their other talents, whether it was Zach Ryan’s cross or Wesley Leggett sneaking behind the defense, that make Loudoun dangerous in attack right now.

(In MLS ref replay voice) HOWEVER… The second goal had Santos at right back, where he moved after starting in midfield. He was there because Keegan Tingey had to move centrally next to Yanis Leerman, after Jacob Erlandson came off in the 64th minute. Drew Skundrich left Tampa’s game early and was not in Saturday’s lineup, so that chance to have some cover was not available, and so Loudoun had to deal with the circumstances. The Hounds are a bit banged up at the moment, but rest assured that past Hounds teams would have exploited such a weakness (and to be fair this Hounds side did, with a Jorge Garcia banger). With Skundrich, Robby Dambrot and Cole Turner, Loudoun has three defensive veteran options out, and to bump something from a couple of weeks prior particularly as the stakes get higher, this is something that I cannot fathom being sustainable.

On *gestures randomly in the air. In the wake of Pablo Maurer’s look at the Loudoun club’s internal strife, etc, I think one could infer by watching the players that that dynamic had been in existence for some time now. This is not to say that the article or reporting therein is old, far from it, and frankly it should be seen by as many eyes as possible. Attain seemed to come into their position with aplomb, their owner Greg Beroni seemed to have good intentions and was visible at Segra and elsewhere; he helped in facilitating their 2024 preseason at IMG, would travel with the team on away trips periodically and was a supporter of their efforts. When and how it morphed into acrimony remains unknown, but Attain did not make it any easier for themselves either; after buying into the Aberdeen Ironbirds of Minor League Baseball (from former Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr.) last fall, they maintained radio silence on the team’s future until a February agreement was reached on stadium improvements.

Following the announced merger between D.C. Soccer, Attain and the Virginia Revolution, in speaking with Virginia Revolution President Nico Eckhart (more on that soon), there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. As the Revolution’s legacy site, the facility (then the Evergreen Sportsplex, now Raventek Park) hosted the D.C. United U-23 team more than a decade ago (where several players went on to play and currently ply their trade in MLS) to a barebones site not unlike the one Loudoun find themselves in now. The Revolution bought into Evergreen in 2018 and have built out the innards of the place to the point where it looks like something that D.C. Soccer LLC (and by extension Attain) frankly should have been working on since people could return to sporting events following COVID. As the merger had been in the works for awhile, Loudoun held most of their preseason at Raventek so they are familiar with the site, and having it 5 minutes away from Segra doesn’t hurt either. Neither does Santos, who, along with being a Loudoun player is a Revolution coach, so this is a bit of kismet.

No matter which way you slice it, several of Loudoun’s employees (players, coaches, etc.) are seeing their third face of ownership in the last 18 months, all of which have been saying the same thing. Loudoun’s seen two strikes so far, and in the wake of what’s easily their most best start in franchise history, with the potential of their first postseason berth at stake, everyone there deserves better.

Random Stat of the Week: 4 (amount of points Loudoun is ahead of the 2nd place teams (Detroit and Monterey) in the Players’ Shield race.

So, Where Does This Leave Us? Loudoun hits the road, playing 3 of their next 4 away, including a game against familiar DMV face Bill Hamid at Miami FC on May 17. Two of those games are against a Lexington side that has not won a game since Matchday 1. Following those games are three straight home games with Louisville, Charleston and Detroit, all of whom will be hot on their heels come Memorial Day, if they haven’t completely caught up.

The overall observation being the next quartet are games they should do well in, and continue to keep or even build on their lead. Loudoun has a chance to show what they’re made of before they have to show what they’re made of.