Lots of things can happen in 62 days; wars have been fought in a fraction of the time, great works of cinema last but a few hours, life can even be created and developed! For Loudoun United’s 2025 season, 62 days saw several other USL teams catch up to and even pass them, and Saturday’s game with Indy Eleven within a longer context proved to be, in the words of an alleged smart person, a ‘must win.’ Loudoun and Indy went toe to toe and a late goal from a new face proved to be the difference as Loudoun got three points in a soccer game for the first time since June 14, covering 7 regular season games and 2 Jagermeister Cup ones (the League’s in-season tournament) with a hard-fought 3-2 win.

Happy recaps are happy, but here’s the highlights first:

Revisiting Glasgow. Omari Glasgow got the start after an impressive stretch last week as a sub and was generally OK if not a little dangerous:

He’s continuing to find his teammates with relative ease, and his Goals Added was as good or better than the other Loudoun attackers on the night, and Loudoun generally bossed the first half in part because of his work. He’s as quick as the injured Wesley Leggett, but not as strong I think(?), but what he may lack in that he makes up for in distribution and vision. I’d presume he will go back to and stay with Chicago next year since he’s signed through 2026, but what he’s done so far provides an interesting wrinkle whenever Chef Wes returns.

Best Performance by a Lead Attacker, Quimi and non-Quimi Divisions. This space has talked up Zach Ryan’s willingness to do the dirty work in 2025, at risk to his skills or whatever professional stature he’s had. And the nature of his tying goal was reminiscent to me of Tim Kerr of the ’80s Philadelphia Flyers, getting in front, knocked over, but still getting the goal:

But Ryan would also drop outside if he had to in support of oncoming teammates. Speaking of supporting teammates, we may as well talk about Aquimides “Quimi” Ordonez, who, like Ryan was 4/5 on passing, but handled a mostly similar usage on the chalkboards:

Obviously the difference is borne out in shots, where Ordonez’ 6 led the team, but Quimi wasn’t afraid to do the dirty work as well, with blocked shots (3), winning four of six duels, and even creating a chance. Usage and deployment is going to evolve as Quimi gets more in harmony with his teammates, but he did a ton of work over his half hour and may help Loudoun United more than just the three points they took Saturday.

On the importance of resilience. Loudoun may have gotten their first win in two months, but how they got the win as just as important. After largely winning the boxcar and analytic numbers in the first half, Loudoun still found themselves behind to their opposition, and found themselves behind later in the game when 2020 Loudoun United goals scored leader Elvis Amoh held off Yanis Leerman scored for Indy to put them up 2-1. The theme of Saturday’s match was Loudoun came back twice to level the game, and scored the tying and winning goals within a five minute span in the last 10 minutes of the game.

Loudoun’s been losing games in a variety of ways lately, but they’ve always known that they have a determination in playing that Ryan Martin has helped bring into the team, and the fruits of that blossomed again Saturday night. That type of win instills a sense of belief in the team that could have strayed before and may again given the next week or so, but it gives the room a collective bounce in their step that has been missing for a minute.

Let’s talk Segra for a second. I want you to watch Tommy McCabe when he gets the ball, where he’s leading Kwame Awuah, and where it ends up.

Tommy’s a guy who played at Notre Dame, appeared in the U-17 World Cup and appeared in his 150th USL game Saturday night. He’s no dummy, and that his teammates got him the ball back so he could send it to Awuah’s feet is a testimony to his skills and his teammates believe in same. So you’ll excuse me if I doubt the one time he could have hooked a ball with tons of room and nobody around him.

More than that, Segra has been open for more than six years now. Save for a scant resurface job a couple of years ago, the turf continues to be a nuisance for hosts and visitors. With the understanding that they are aware of the laundry list of enhancements and improvements that needs to be done, the Virginia Revolution should put a new field at or near the top of the list of to-do’s, because this is getting ridiculous.

Random Stat of the Day: 1,253, the number of days between Loudoun’s last win over Indy (a 1-0 win at Segra to open the 2022 season) and Saturday.

So, where do we go from here? As I mentioned in the pregame segment, Loudoun needed to regain their mojo and I think the spirit of the win and the win itself helps them do that to a degree. Wednesday they host Sacramento Republic FC, who went through their own back and forth with a local rival Saturday, drawing 3-3 to Oakland. So now they get on a plane and head out this way, the first of a four-game road trip with (in order) Loudoun, El Paso, New Mexico and Tampa Bay. Wednesday’s game is the quarterfinals of the Jagermeister Cup, while games two and three are six-pointers with Conference teams hot on their heels, so it leaves them in a manpower predicament. That said, they are a tough out in any sense.

Loudoun on the other hand, play at Charleston Saturday before hosting Miami the following week, in a pair of six-pointers of their own. The win, combined with North Carolina’s Friday draw with Detroit, put them back in third, a point ahead but NCFC still holds a game in hand.

On August 17 of last year, Loudoun won on the road, then subsequently started a slide they did not recover from, winning 2 of their last 11 games in 2024 and losing their hopes for a playoff spot as a result. Will the experiences of 2024 and the last 62 days of 2025 serve as where Loudoun makes some team history?