A disallowed stoppage time goal kept Loudoun from an upset.
Loudoun United’s 2-0 win over the weekend against LA Galaxy II last weekend was impressive for how well the team played, and its reward was to play a midweek game on the road against San Antonio FC, point leaders in the USL Championship at the moment. And while Saturday night saw Loudoun ride the momentum of a brace by a teenager, Wednesday saw them as the victim of a brace by a player, losing 2-1 to San Antonio in front of 4,297 at Toyota Field.
From D.C. United, Jeremy Garay, Jacob Greene and Gaoussou Samaké started, and joining them was Moses Nyeman in his first competitive minutes (Hayden Sargis was on the bench). Kristian Fletcher started again, and Academy players Matai Akinmboni and Gavin Turner were on the bench.
Loudoun’s tactical look was different than most, with Nicky Downs behind Garay and Nyeman for the latter pair to play the preferred positions. San Antonio took advantage early:
3′ | Zamudio coming up big early
0 – 0 | #SAvLDN pic.twitter.com/6Hp3wEe2qj
— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) August 11, 2022
While Loudoun was adjusting to their new wrinkle, Sam Adeniran made the early lead a formality:
.@soadeniran sneaks through for his sixth goal of the season! That ties him for first in goals scored for SAFC!#Defend210 | #SAvLDN | 1-0 pic.twitter.com/EY5XY1EdKc
— San Antonio FC (@SanAntonioFC) August 11, 2022
Zamudio did what he could to keep the first half bleeding minimal (Loudoun was outshot 9-1 at that point):
34′ | coming up big 2️⃣x
1 – 0 | #SAvLDN pic.twitter.com/uoVy2cjqSg
— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) August 11, 2022
Just before halftime, Nyeman was able to be the focus of a give and go to level things up:
Our Homegrown makes no mistake ️#SAvLDN | @MNyeman pic.twitter.com/guZpBg0JLg
— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) August 11, 2022
Adeniran’s golazo early into the second half put the home team back in front:
Upper 90 finish from @soadeniran gives @SanAntonioFC the lead!#SAvLDN pic.twitter.com/dfG8friwv0
— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) August 11, 2022
It appeared that Loudoun had a game-tying goal in the 93rd minute, but second-half substitute Houssou Landry appeared to be ruled offside as he attempted to deflect the ball past Jordan Farr, in the highlights below.
Loudoun (5-15-3, 18 pts) is off this weekend and play next Saturday, August 20 at 7:30 pm when they host Atlanta United 2 at Segra Field.
Box Score
USL Championship Regular Season – Game 23
San Antonio FC 2 (Adeniran 10, 51)
Loudoun United FC 1 (Nyeman 45)
Lineups:
San Antonio (343): Jordan Farr; Carter Manley, Fabien Garcia, Mitchell Taintor; Saad Abdul-Salaam (Shannon Gomez 45), PC (C), Dominick Hernandez (Jordy Delem 63), Connor Maloney; Samuel Adeniran, Santiago Patino (Elliot Collier 63), Justin Dhillon
Loudoun (4231): Luis Zamudio; Jacob Greene, Jalen Robinson (C), Carson Vom Steeg, Gaoussou Samaké; Nicky Downs (Tyler Freeman 68), Jeremy Garay (Houssou Landry 58); Abdoul Zanne (Zoumana Diarra 57), Skage Simonsen (Hayden Sargis 84), Moses Nyeman; Kristian Fletcher
Bookings:
San Antonio – Taintor 45+3,
Loudoun – Zanne 18, Diarra 74