Loudoun United has seen their share of hard luck losses this season, including games where they lost points in the 95th and 103rd minutes over the summer, and following that run of luck, it seemed only natural there was some positive regression of sorts would return, as it seemed to do Saturday when Loudoun played El Paso. Two defensive breakdowns by the Locomotive allowed Loudoun to capitalize early and manage things for a 2-1 road win. The first breakdown was so quick the highlights didn’t even capture it! But they’re here for your entertainment:

On the being so smart, so smart, so s-m-r-t. When Loudoun beat Miami the challenge would be trying to find offense without Quimi Ordonez (on Guatemala National Team duty) and then as the lineup came out, Abdellatif Aboukoura was out as well, about 40% of their offense was out for the game. So between Ben Mines’ opener and Drew Skundrich getting the brace all within the first dozen minutes of the game, Loudoun could then manage the game accordingly, which you can tell from this:

While the xG battle was one Loudoun were happy to concede, there weren’t too many moments where the defense was overwhelmed (and if they were, Hugo Fauroux was in a great position to bail the team out).

Speaking of the latter, he’s just the 11th player to record three or more penalty saves in one season (the record is five), is one save away from 300 in his career (Birmingham’s Matt Von Oekel is above 400), and should get strong looks for a Best XI season nod.

On being…comfortable? Sure, Loudoun was missing two of its top goalscorers, arguably it’s best defenseman, but given the recent happenings, they seem to be a little untethered by circumstance at the moment? Along with Mines and Fauroux, Florian Valot regained a share of the League assist lead on Mines’ opener, but also created three chances, won six duels and logged three tackles, four recoveries and a nice gash on his head from a clash of heads. There may be a regained sense of their play since April where the veterans are doing a bunch of hard work, but they are also planting a flag of sorts with organizational firsts that should be lauded. The team is north of 95% to clinch a playoff spot and it seems inevitable, though the chance of a home playoff spot remains up in the air.

Either way, if you’re going to play out for your coach, you aren’t going to find much better than Ryan Martin.

On the new guy. While Loudoun was traveling to Texas, they announced the hiring of Alen Marcina as Director of Scouting. While it would be nice that Revolution Soccer reversed their course and brought in Marcina to complement Martin, I’d speculate that this role will be in addition to a Head Coach role once Martin’s exit is made official. Marcina’s work in San Antonio was outstanding, losing 42 of 165 games over four seasons, and winning the USL Championship and Players’ Shield trophies in 2022. He also worked with current Loudoun assistant Victor Lonchuk in 2023 and Dario Pot for several years as well, so Lonchuk potentially coming up to take the Head Coach job is not out of the question either.

Marcina’s record of players who elevated their game in the USL is pretty impressive as well, with guys like defenders Mitchell Taintor and Connor Maloney, midfielder Cristian Parano, forward Justin Dhillon, and current D.C. United goalkeeper Jordan Farr into established pros in the USL, and doesn’t hesitate to take young MLS players on loan for additional minutes as well; recent Minnesota player Tani Oluwaseyi scored almost 20 goals for San Antonio in 2023 before moving to Villarreal this summer.

The question becomes how does Marcina acclimate the Loudoun stigma? The area’s cost of living is expensive, and the organization will be coming off of dismissing a coach and sporting director intimate with the area and worked with restraints in cost and infrastructure amazingly. Does Marcina reconcile this with his ample rolodex?

Random Stat of the Day: 1/4/11, the first-ever win over El Paso was also the 4th league away win in a season and also the 11th overall win in a season, both of which tie Loudoun’s single season records, set in 2019 (Loudoun also logged 11 wins last season).

So, where do we go from here? Loudoun not only got a nice win on the road against a team they haven’t beaten before, but they remained in third place and expanded their lead to 4 points over North Carolina FC. Loudoun has quietly won three of its last four and return home to play Marcina’s former club Saturday, a San Antonio side that is going through their own skid as well, currently on an eight-game winless streak, their last win being three months ago to the day when Loudoun and SAFC kick off on September 12. Loudoun find themselves in a superb opportunity to keep and even potentially put space behind them and the East with six games to go after this.

In a season of firsts, Loudoun continue to march to the most important first they can experience.