By Adam Davis, Co-Host on Next in Line
Loudoun United FC is gearing up to kick off their 2022 USL Championship Season on March 12th and there’s a lot that you might want to know before you take your seats at SEGRA Field that night. Hopefully, this article will help to answer some of the questions that are floating around right now for fans of the team ahead kickoff:
First off, who are we playing?
Indy Eleven is a team that you might categorize in the upper-half tier of quality within the USL Championship. They boast a high standard for scouting and player development and invest heavily in their roster. Founded in 2014, Indy spent their first 4 seasons in the North American Soccer League (NASL) where they finished runners up in 2016. After joining the USL in 2018, they exploded onto the scene, qualifying for the playoffs their first two years. During Loudoun’s 2019 inaugural season, they finished 3rd in the league, losing to Louisville City in the Eastern Conference Championship game. Indy then finished their last two seasons (2020 & 2021) outside of the playoff picture and are looking to start off 2022 by recovering from those seasons subpar years.
Loudoun United has only faced Indy Eleven 3 times prior to the 2022 Season. Two of those occurred during our 2019 Inaugural Season, both of which resulted in losses for the Red and White. After two years without a matchup, Loudoun then hosted Indy in August of last year and won 4-1 thanks to a first-half brace by Sami Sergi (as well as goals by Ted Ku-DiPietro and Darluis Paz). Loudoun’s home-opener matchup is one of two games against Indy during the 2022 Season.
Will there be familiar faces in Loudoun jerseys this year?
One of last year’s most significant cogs in Loudoun’s midfield, Nicky Downs, is returning for a second year at SEGRA. He was signed from Hartford after having similar success there. Loudoun also purchased Nanan Houssou Landy’s contract from his former club, ASI Abengourou of the Ivory Coast, after a successful 2021 loan spell. In addition to those two, Loudoun brought back Michael Gamble for his 3rd Season with the team. After a stellar showing in 2020, Gamble followed-up with a disappointing season with few appearances and lackluster ones when he was able to take the field. While the team is not very vocal about injuries, one would have to assume that this drop-off in form was directly tied to why the talented veteran didn’t seem much action in his 2nd year. Now the most tenured player on the team, Gamble is likely to be in contention for the Captain’s Armband this year, so long as he can stay healthy.
What about new faces?
Starting between the sticks, Loudoun has brought in a series of talented shot-stoppers. The first of which is Trey Muse, a former Seattle Sounders goalkeeper who spent time on loan with Tacoma Defiance and San Diego Loyal. Tacoma currently plays in the MLS Next League but most recently was a member of the USL Championship and San Diego is one of the newer USL Championship franchises. Currently, transfermrkt.com has him listed as carrying a hand-injury so we’ll see if he’s available in time for the Indy game. Loudoun also signed a talented young goalkeeper, Joe Rice, from New England Revolution 2. Rice has had amazing seasons as a shot stopper in USL League 1 and the team is high on his upside. Lastly, DC United has been rumored to be signing Dane Jacomen from the University of Pennsylvania and it now sounds like he’ll see minutes with Loudoun but not until he finishes his Ivy League schooling later this year.
In addition to goalkeepers, Loudoun has spent some time signing defenders. They signed two central defenders by the names of Grant Lillard and Rio Hope-Gund from MLS-sides Columbus Crew and Orlando City SC respectively. Sam Guediri is another defender, left-back, who joined up with the team from an MLS side, coming from Inter Miami CF. Lastly, Carson Vom Steeg is a name you might see roving around the backfield for Loudoun. Traditionally a defensive midfielder, it sounds like Coach Martin brought him in to bolster the defense in his high-press style of play.
Lastly, Loudoun signed a new attacking player by the name of Azaad Liadi, a winger who tore it up for USL League 1 side Tormenta FC. You might recall Tormenta FC from the 2019 season when Loudoun loaned DC Draft Pick, Shinya Kadono, to them.
In addition to those names that Loudoun has already brought in, DC United drafted three players in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. Sofiane Djeffal and Skage Simonson are both international players (France and Norway) and would subsequently take up international roster spots if Loudoun were to sign them in any capacity. DC’s 2nd pick, Alex Nagy, on the other hand would not take up an international roster spot but he rounds out the group of midfielders of which any of them could potentially get minutes for Loudoun in 2022.
What, if any, DC United Academy players should we keep an eye out for this year?
Aside from the obvious names (Jeremy Garay, Jacob Greene, and Ted Ku-DiPietro) that have already earned contracts with DC United’s first team but might see minutes with Loudoun, there are a few other names that could really have breakout seasons this year.
One name is someone we saw erupt onto the field at the end of the 2021 season and is now getting minutes with DC United’s preseason squad: Jackson Hopkins. A versatile attacking player, Hopkins can play across the top of the field and has the potential to provide the goals needed to drag Loudoun out of the depths of the USL Power Rankings.
One other name to be on the lookout for is Abdellatif Aboukoura. “Bouji”, as his teammates refer to him, played in a number of roles during the 2021 Season and we anticipate those to expand this year. He boasts some quality footwork and can be an attacking threat out of the midfield for Coach Martin’s pacey style of play.
Why is this game, and this season, important?
So, with all of that in mind, why else should you care about Loudoun United kicking off their 2022 Season? For starters, Coach Ryan Martin is entering his 4th Season at the helm of the Loudoun Roster, having come on-board midway through the 2019 Inaugural Season. The last two seasons have resulted in failures for the team’s record but massive successes in developing talent for DC United’s first team. Once such success was former Loudoun United midfielder Kevin Paredes’ amazing performances for DC at the MLS-level that saw him notch a franchise record sale to a VfL Wolfsburg in the German Bundesliga.
Furthermore, with the MLS-Next Generation League starting up this year, one must ask what the future might look like for Loudoun at SEGRA Field. While the team and DC United have been close-lipped about plans for the team, their actions sure seem to say that they intend for it to stay. Beefing up the staff and planning a series of events planned by the team for ticket holders are some of the ways that they’ve conveyed their potential intentions. But on-field performances will likely play a part in any boardroom decision about the future of the franchise so hopefully, we don’t have a third “wooden-spoon” type season.
Loudoun has never started off their season with a win and depending on which Indy Eleven team trots out on March 12th; this could be a solid first chance to start off on the right foot for a change.
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