Recap: Loudoun draws 1-1 with Rio Grande

Following the offseason addition of so many familiar faces to Saturday night’s Rio Grande Valley FC squad, Ryan Martin presumably anticipated a hard-fought contest that he would (hopefully) been on the top of. And while the hard-fought portion of the game lived up to expectation, the current Loudoun players had to weather an onslaught and draw 1-1 with RGVFC in front of 3,052 at HEB Park.

Along with Griffin Yow, who was loaned Friday, Jacob Greene, Jovanny Bolivar and Kimarni Smith started, while Michael DeShields was on the bench to round out D.C. United’s contingent. Future D.C. player Jeremy Garay also returned to the lineup as the remaining starters from last week’s loss to Tampa Bay comprised the balance.

RGV was able to score first as Emilio Ycaza (acquired Friday from the Austin Bold) collided with Timmy Mehl in the Loudoun area, and former Loudoun player Elvis Amoh was able to convert. However, moments later, Robby Dambrot was taken down in the RGV area from a corner kick by Roberto Albuquerque, and Ted Ku-DiPietro brought things back level to the end of the first half. Things were almost not that way, as an Adrian Diz Pe redirect from a Christian Sorto header was ruled offside by Elton Garcia after consultation with his linesman.

The second half saw little from the visitors despite some counterattacks from RGV offense, and RGV found themselves continuing to press and even Frank Lopez (also acquired Friday, but from OKC Energy) put in a rebound in the 94th minute for what appeared to be a certain RGV win, but that goal was ruled offside as well as Loudoun survived a 25-6 shot barrage to secure their second draw of the season.

Loudoun (3-15-2) hosts Charlotte next Wednesday, September 8 at 7:00 pm at Segra Field.

Box Score

USL Championship Regular Season - Game 20
RGVFC 1 (Amoh (PK) 14)
Loudoun United FC 1 (Ku-DiPietro (PK) 20)

Lineups:
RGVFC (4312): Tyler Deric; Emilio Ycaza, Adrian Diz Pe, Erik Pimentel, Roberto Albuquerque (Frank Lopez 67); Adrian Vera, James Murphy, Rodrigo Lopez (C) (Andres Flores 67); Christian Sorto; Juan Azocar, Elvis Amoh (Vicente Sanchez 77)

Loudoun (3412): Jermaine Fordah; Alexxon Saravia (Nicky Downs 63), Timmy Mehl (C), Robby Dambrot; Griffin Yow, Landry Houssou (Michael DeShields 85), Jeremy Garay, Jacob Greene (Jackson Hopkins 77); Ted Ku-DiPietro; Kimarni Smith (Darluis Paz 63), Jovanny Bolivar (Kairou Amoustapha 63)

Bookings:
RGVFC - Pimentel 69, Sorto 80
Loudoun - Mehl 13, Saravia 15