When we were here last time, I mulled over the chance for Loudoun United to get some folks back into the ranks as they prepare for a notable trio of games after Memorial Day. And they did get a couple of people back in defense, but the offense shone at Segra, with Loudoun scoring the most goals in a game since the last game of their first season, way back in in 2019. Still, there have to be some things to worry about right? Right? Well let’s peek, Mother’s Day style.

Do you want to bang heads with me? Do you want to feel everything? So things worked out in the end:

That said, I’d mentioned in pregame that there could be a trap here for Loudoun especially with their next six weeks, and it wasn’t without a slow start by Loudoun (which we’ll muse about in a second), a half sketchy call in the box where Keegan Tingey drew a penalty, and a early second half second yellow on Michael Adedokun for diving in the Loudoun area.

That said, once the Adedokun dismissal occurred, Loudoun, already in a tactical groove, then switched into clinical mode, as their five goals came from five different players, with the four run of play goals being assisted by four different players. Teamwork, dreamwork.

Tell your children not to hear my words. So, what about that first half? Well, Cole Turner made his first start in 581 days due to various injuries, and he made his 2025 debut last week. I think when it came to this week, he potentially is…still coming back? Granted, going against Adedokun and Marcus Epps could give a fair number of USL defenders trouble, to say nothing for those who played more minutes yesterday than they had in 18 months. It required some compensation with Tommy McCabe, Keegan Tingey and Moses Nyeman serving as LCB by committee to an extent, as Yanis Leerman was a surprise absence.

But if you want to find hell with me… OK, so let’s chat a second about that Leerman absence, combined with this postgame pic:

So that’s Jacob Erlandson on crutches in the far left of the picture, while Robby Dambrot’s on the right. Drew Skundrich returned to the lineup last night and played the last 21 minutes of the game after he was out for a month with an injury of his own. Along with the center back combination, Loudoun’s fullbacks were Tingey on the left (normally he plays on the right) and Ben Mines (normally playing a little further up in midfield) on the right, as Kwame Awuah got a breather of his own for the first 45.

I’ll keep tapping the board, banging the drum or whatever metaphor you want to make, but I remain skeptical that this can be sustained for five more months. With backline injuries of their own, D.C. United likely isn’t planning to loan down Garrison Tubbs for the short-term future, which leaves me wondering what Steven Birnbaum is going to do about it, since suiting up appears to be out of the question.

It’s personally bananas to me that Loudoun’s started and kept this pace. With them being the 10th team to earn at least 18 points in games before Saturday’s win, looking at preserving the group AND bringing in others to help should be key.

Random Stat of the Week: 1 (number of pro assists by Alex Nagy, who assisted on Loudoun’s 5th, scored by Zach Ryan).

Your bonus moment of Zen: Thanks Tommy!

So, where does this leave us? Even last year’s Loudoun side would have taken at least a half to catch up to the away side’s fast start, but Loudoun met and arguably passed Lexington even before the sending off. They get to take their energy into Florida and face a Miami FC side that includes familiar names like Sebastian Blanco and Lucas Melano in attack and a even more familiar name to DC folks as Bill Hamid tends the net. Miami’s unbeaten in their last 3, including results at Monterey Bay and San Antonio, who are the Top 2 in the West. No slouches at all, this serves as the prelude to even higher stakes games coming up at Segra.

Sneaking out of Florida with a point or 3 ahead of those games with Louisville City, Charleston and Detroit City looming on the horizon makes for a set of games Loudoun fans and players haven’t seen before. Hopefully they can show you what it’s…