When we were here last time, I mentioned that a thin, leggy Loudoun was going to host a Legion side that hadn’t played in a couple of weeks, and that three points would be ideal for an upcoming tough month. One point was gained in a 2-2 draw, as Loudoun remained winless in four games (but have lost two, one to the defending USL Championship trophy winners (Pittsburgh) and another to a Tampa side who has yet to drop any points so far. Pretty good, right? Well, what’s underneath how this side is progressing?

On guts. While Loudoun tries to figure out what they’re going to be as they wait for players to return, it should be noted that they continue to play their game, but nothing that’s going to look like novelty some of the time. Pre-Attain Loudoun sides would continue to play and maybe take a moral victory or two when things were in doubt, but there’s something to be said for rallying back twice Saturday, doing (almost) the same thing at Tampa, and doing it in the opener with the Hounds. Loudoun’s still sorting it out, but it does have that, even as Sean Young was the latest to go down, moments after taking a shot into the abdomen in the early moments of the first half.

On a potential statement of intent? He looked OK in League play and may have been the best player in their Open Cup elimination, but Marcos Dias go the start ahead of Quimi Ordonez, and looked pretty good:

4 created chances which led the team (only one from a corner), the ability to snuff out a couple of moves with interceptions, and worked well with and off of Jack Panayotou. The Legion is figuring things out as well, but Dias was arguably the most impactful attacker for Loudoun on the day, and as the games roll on, it makes for a challenge for Anthony Limbrick on how to best use them.

On center back Spider Man meme. So here’s the Legion’s 2nd goal, note the positions of Axel Essengue (51) and Bolu Akinyode (21):

Here’s the first goal, again note Essengue in this:

Now I’ll readily admit the context differs here slightly; goal one was off of a corner that didn’t work, Loudoun was caught in transition, and well, Adam Beaudry’s fishing the ball out. As the games and the video library grows, more eyes will see what to do about Loudoun and how to handle them. If Essengue’s in the middle, he’s going to need to let his backline neighbors know what he’s doing and what he expects them to do in his space.

The good news is this will evolve again, with the imminent returns of Sal Mazzaferro and Jacob Erlandson back into the fold (the 25 day contracts of Elvis Amoh and Grant Robinson will have expired before Friday’s game), and Essengue is sporting the highest Goals Added for any defender in this young season, so like with the previously mentioned Dias, Limbrick will need to know how to best deploy Essengue as there’s talent to keep him in the lineup from an analytic POV.

Random Stat of the Day: 42, the difference in team shots taken between the first place team (Louisville, 78) and the last place team (Loudoun, 36).

So, where do we go from here? I talked about this last time, the need for Loudoun to get the first regular season game under their belts, it didn’t happen, so now things get tough, because Louisville and Hugo Fauroux come to town. Louisville is a perennial, they lead the League in goals, they’re the type of team that’s going to be a tough out regardless, and your guys will be up for it.

But hear me out for a second. Louisville saw Danny Cruz leave for Minnesota and the lure of MLS last month, they just lost their first home game in 22 months last week to Charleston, and they’re working through the loss of Arturo Ordonez by playing 17-year-old Brandon Dayes at center back between Kyle Adams and Sean Totsch. There’s a learning process there! Louisville was without Aiden McFadden but still have their attack, they’re going to host Austin FC Tuesday in Open Cup play and want to do well in that, so maybe, just maybe, this is a trap of sorts. Or I could be on the hop water.

Look, I’m only saying it’s possible, and Loudoun are going to need to find something to get that first dub.