So in the aftermath of Loudoun’s wild 2-2 draw with Tampa, I mentioned that Birmingham coming to town posed a pleasant situation if they didn’t overlook it; Birmingham had played North Carolina FC midweek, that combined with travel made it a game that Loudoun could have in the bag, to the point where they could have clinched their first playoff spot in franchise history. But it’s a few days after that, and Loudoun doesn’t have that nice old ‘x’ next to their name in the standings yet. So, how did we get here? Let’s try to examine it:

On being thrown out of rhythm, and the cost of emaciation. Sometimes there’s cosmic forces that nobody anticipates that can throw you off kilter and leave you catching up as a result. For Loudoun, that was the separate first-half injuries to Yanis Leerman and Ben Mines in the first 25 minutes of the game, resulting in Robby Dambrot and Omari Glasgow to respectively replace them. Moments after Mines’ departure, Dambrot tackles Tyler Pasher in the area, and AJ Paterson converts the penalty for the game’s only goal.

What I’m going to say isn’t a slight on Dambrot; I understand the nature of how to deploy him, to work in tandem with Garrison Tubbs in back to organize and prevent any sudden counters, as a guy who knows Ryan Martin’s scheme and what he wants done, but the drawn penalty didn’t come from that; it came from poor positioning and being vulnerable on a lost duel which eventually led to the PK. There seems to be a hesitancy in the usage of Bolu Akinyode, who is no spring chicken to the League, where that due could have been snuffed out quickly (Bolu eventually came on in the second half and was 19/20 passing and won 6 of 7 duels in 25 minutes of work). More than that, Loudoun, already missing Jacob Erlandson and Cole Turner and then having Leerman go down, having to get to that point shouldn’t have happened, but hindsight and all.

On the movement of dual hurricanes. It’s hurricane season a little more south now, and recently they had two hurricanes/tropical storms develop in the Atlantic, and one reason why storm damage may not have been as bad as some were expecting was because the force of the storms tended them to bounce off one another and eventually out to sea and away from much anticipated danger.

Why do I mention this? Well, here’s the chalkboards of Abdellatif Aboukoura and Quimi Ordonez:

Following an encouraging performance against Tampa, Aboukoura struggled a little, but at least he took shots (2, both blocked), more than can be said of Ordonez. Both came off after an hour, two talented players who continue to have trouble unlocking the other, both drifting out to sea.

Both players are 21 or younger, both are under contract with Loudoun through 2026 and both are offensive talents with the ability to change a game on their own. It’s about time that they harness their power together.

Random Stat of the Day: 100, the number of games Zach Ryan has played with Loudoun (the first player to reach that mark with the team), which he celebrated by taking a stoppage time red card for denial of a goal scoring opportunity. I kid, congrats Zach!

So, where do we go from here? Well:

Hartford use their game in hand playing at Oakland Tuesday night following their Jagermeister Cup win over Sacramento, the team’s first trophy, so Loudoun could find themselves in fifth come Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, they head to Detroit minus Ryan and Ordonez (the latter going to Guatemala for international duty), and with Mines’ and Leerman’s status up in the air as of this writing, may go to Michigan with a patchwork squad, playing in a place they haven’t won at before, looking for a win lest they find themselves further down the table (Hartford and Pittsburgh host Sacramento and Indy, respectively). Despite the loss, their playoff odds moved from 94 to 96%, their mission is simple; win and in.

The good news is 2025 has found Loudoun getting wins and results on fields they hadn’t done so at before, the concerning news is can they do it one more time at Keyworth for the biggest one yet?