The thing about going from League play as Loudoun United did against Hartford then moving into USL Cup play (it’s back!) against the Charleston Battery is that it can be used in a variety of different ways. The in-season competition is weird it and of itself, because it helps show who are the understated performers, even if you forget who won it last year (it was Hartford, for the record). But you can use it in a variety of ways, even if they are the same. So let’s look at some familiar things, and some new things:

Maybe Soup(er) can become a meal? Andres Souper started for the first time since Week 1, having missed time to due injury. Deployed similar to how Pedro Santos kind of was the previous week, working alongside James Murphy, his chalkboard wasn’t bad:

When I talk about early season injuries kind of delaying the start to a season, Souper comes back, Marcos Dias goes down (he did come back Saturday as a late sub), but those guys, along with Thor Ulfarsson who himself was absent Saturday’s lineup haven’t really played together yet. Stuff like that is going to come sometime. Hopefully.

On a continuing problem. So here’s Charleston’s first goal:

Yes, that’s D.C. United legend Miguel Berry with the goal. This goal is kind of emblematic of what’s been the Axel Essengue/Bolu Akinyode backline experience. There seems to be a casual attempt at something that pulls one or both players out of position, one has to scramble back, in this case taking out the other, and Loudoun’s down a goal.

The usual caveats apply of course; Loudoun’s backline is thin, so Essengue and Akinyode are the rule until health returns. Essengue has some talent as well, in terms of Goals Added on ASA, he’s in the Top 20 for defenders (along with Noah Adnan). However some pragmatism in defense is going to be crucial this week, and most weeks going forward.

The fountain of youth. OK, Pedro Santos’ goal was pretty good:

Of note in the replay is how early he saw what space he needed to get to before hitting that volley. For a guy who turned 38 a few days before, not too shabby!

Random Stat of the Day: 6.8, the current xG for Loudoun in six USL Championship games per ASA, lowest in the USL.

So, where do we go from here? The good news is Loudoun plays another team that is finding itself, the bad news is a few people on said team are familiar with Leesburg; Oakland Roots includes a former DC United Academy player (Michael Edwards), but also a trio of Loudoun alums in Florian Valot, Keegan Tingey and Tommy McCabe, brought over at the suggestion of current Roots and former Loudoun coach Ryan Martin. Oakland also hosts last year’s Golden Boot winner in Peter Wilson and have seen a solid attacking start by Wolfgang Prentice. In sum, they’re still new-ish but they’ve got a lot of clubs in the bag.

Saturday may prove to be an epihanous moment for one or both teams.