Guest Loudoun United Correspondant: Dan Morris @DanDaMan_Morris
Loudoun broke an 8-game winless streak to overcome cross-division foes Indy Eleven on Wednesday night with a 4-1 victory. Two goals from Sammy Sergi in the first half proved to be enough for the northern Virginia side, but they added two more goals in the second by Darluis Paz and Ku-DiPietro and conceded only once for a much needed and spirit-lifting third win of the season.
The game opened with Indy pressing high up the field and controlling much of the first 15 minutes. In the 8th minute, Indy’s press resulted in the first shot on target of the game which resulted in a good save by Jermaine Fordah in goal. Around the 20th minute, however, Loudoun started making their mark on the game through a series of set-pieces and creative play by Ku-DiPietro who was integral to Loudoun’s attack throughout the match. In the 34th minute, Ku-DiPietro forced a save from Indy’s ‘keeper from a 30-yard freekick on target in the bottom right corner. A great effort that rightfully deserved the resulting corner.
Mere minutes later Loudoun opened the scoring with a goal by Sammy Sergi, assisted by Robby Dambrot who, after being gifted space from a Ku-DiPietro dummy, sent in a hard, low cross that found Sergi on a diagonal run in the six-yard box. Sergi calmly finished the play with a tap in and Loudoun could finally celebrate taking the lead for the first time since June.
Just 3 minutes later, Sergi again was in the right place at the right time to finish another close-range effort. This time, however, the ball was gifted to him by the Indy Eleven goalkeeper after a poor clearance from a Loudoun corner. The ‘keeper tried to push the ball behind the crossbar but miss touched it and the ball fell to Sergi’s feet for an easy finish. Even though the goal came from a goalkeeper mistake, Loudoun deserved to go up two goals on their opponents based-on the run of play.
The second half began much like the first ended with Loudoun controlling the game on the front-foot. Ryan Martin opted for two substitutions in the beginning of the second half in Darluis Paz coming in for Sammy Sergi, and Kairou Amoustapha for Montesdeoca. This proved to be a good move with Darluis Paz getting on the scoreboard in the 73rdminute with yet another tap in by a well-worked move by Ku-DiPietro and Smith. Ku-DiPietro played an exquisite ball over the top for Smith who played a low cross past the oncoming goalkeeper for a poaching Darluis Paz who took his opportunity for the goal.
The icing on the cake came in the 76th minute when Darluis Paz beat a defender on the wing (cheeky, cheeky nutmeg) and played a perfect cross at the near post for Ku-DiPietro to get his name on the scoresheet.
Indy was able to put one back just a few minutes later but it was too little, too late as Indianapolis went home with their tails between their legs. This was a rare, but well-deserved victory for Loudoun who showed their weight against a strong opponent. Maybe a one-off, maybe a sign of things to come- let’s hope we see more of this Loudoun performance in the future.
Loudoun’s next match is at home against first-place Tampa Bay Rowdies on Sept. 8th at 7 PM.
Box Score
Loudoun United FC 4 (Sergi 43, 45+1, Paz 73, Ku-DiPietro 76)
Indy Eleven 1 (Ouimette 78)
Lineups:
Loudoun (3412): Jermaine Fordah; Hassan Pinto, Timmy Mehl (C), Allexon Saravia; Ted Ku-DiPietro, Nicky Downs (Massimo Ferrin 90), Landry Houssou, Robby Dambrot (Jackson Hopkins 90); Giovanni Montesdeoca (Kairou Amoustapha 46); Sammy Sergi (Darluis Paz 59), Kimarni Smith (Tyler Gabarra 86)
Indy (442): Jordan Farr; Rece Buckmaster (Nick Moon 59), Karl Ouimette, A.J. Cochran, Neveal Hackshaw; Aboubacar Sissoko (Gershon Koffie 59), Jeremiah Gutjahr (Peter-Lee Vassell 72), Ayoze (C) (Patrick Seagrist 80), Gordon Wild; Nicky Law, Manuel Arteaga (Jordan Hamilton 72)
Discipline:
Loudoun – Dambrot 47, Saravia 85, Amoustapha 90+2
Indy – Cochran 33, Ouimette 34, Moon 57