Spirit & Loudoun lose, DC Power win, and more: Monday Freedom Kicks
Happy Monday, everyone. We had some local soccer results, so let’s begin with those!
The Spirit lost their final regular season game to Utah, 1-0. But, the playoffs are set! They will face Racing Louisville at Rowdy Audi on Saturday!
And the rest of the quarterfinal round:
Loudoun eliminated in playoffs 1-0 to North Carolina (DP)
Loudoun United’s season comes to an end as they lost to North Carolina FC in the first round of the playoffs. It was a fun season for Loudoun, who made the playoffs for the first time.
DC Power hit the road to play Dallas Trinity, and they get their second win on the season with a 3-2 victory.
Sources: Premier League chief Scholes to lead top-tier USL (ESPN)
The USL has brought in Scholes from the Premier League to help organize their new top flight division that’s supposed to begin in 2027.
Detroit City stuns Louisville City with Eastern Conference Quarterfinal upset (USL)
Detroit City becomes the first 8 seed to beat a 1 seed in the USL playoffs since…Detroit City did it to Pittsburgh back in 2023. And it’s considered the greatest playoff upset ever, as the 36-point difference in the standings between Louisville and Detroit eclipsed the 26-point difference between Pittsburgh and Detroit in 2023. Onto the Eastern Conference semifinals!
Sources: Oakland Roots interested in Loudoun United HC Ryan Martin (Oakland Roots Blog)
Could Ryan Martin be headed out west? He seems to be a candidate for the Oakland Roots job.
Why the five-substitute era has not been good for football (The Athletic)
An opinion piece on why having five subs in a match hasn’t been great for the game. My take: five subs is what it should have always been.
Finally, don’t forget to fill out the 2025 MLS survey, which contains a ton of DC United questions!
Enjoy the day, y’all.
The ref in the Loudoun game needed to use cards sooner than she did after giving a harsh yellow to Turner. I know its a playoff game but NCFC was getting away a lot of time wasting and basically murder on some of those challenges. Three or four times one of the NCFC forwards kicked the ball away towards the Loudoun goal she warned him the first two times and should’ve given him a card when he did it again later but didn’t.
Not to blame the ref as Loudoun just seemed to be unable to unlock the final pass though they forced several saves and found the woodwork a couple times. The NCFC goal was off fast transition after forcing a turnover in the forward part of our defensive third and the 2nd string keeper got beat near post.
Isn’t kicking the ball away after a play is dead supposed to be an automatic yellow every time? Or is that one of those MLS-exclusive rules?
I thought it was. The first time he did it when he got called offsides the ref warned him and the hometown commentators were saying he probably should’ve seen a yellow for that and he had to be careful. Then he did it again and still didn’t see a yellow. I think he finally saw one after several fouls and like the 3rd or 4th instance of kicking the ball away after getting a final warning.
Per Goff, DC United is contemplating playing at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore next season when Miami comes to town. Nothing solidified yet, though, and the game could still end up being at Audi
1) Messi won’t play. It’s his schtick.
2) Man, for someone who made his bones over keeping United in DC, Levien sure is trying to make Baltimore happen.
Well, yet another thing to go on my list for why I am not renewing my season tickets. That game will likely not be included (I just wouldn’t put it past the organization).
I will hate breaking the news to my poor ticket rep. It’s not his fault at all.
It’s a good way to piss off both fans in DC by moving the game and fans in Baltimore when they pay through the nose and he doesn’t show. It”s a lose-
lose scenario.
But that’s exactly why Levien and Co will do it don’t you see?
I’m split on the multiple-sub rule. Modern, high-level soccer is played at such a tempo these days that you see players dropping with heart problems. So having multiple subs is a partial response to that. But allowing multiple subs allows a team like Real Madrid to have 3 starting lineups on their squad–which is bad for the game.