Recap: Loudoun falters after 60, loses 4-1 to Tampa

With all the fuss surrounding D.C. United’s new coach, Loudoun United had been playing decently over the last month, and even had four straight unbeaten games at home (2-0-2), however, both were brought to a screeching e-brake of reality as they allowed three goals in ten minutes, losing to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 4-1 in front of 1,613 at Segra Field.

Loudoun United’s first game where Wayne Rooney was the first team’s coach saw current homegrown Jacob Greene start at left wingback while Jalen Robinson started on the other side, while Hayden Sargis and Jeremy Garay were on the bench. For Academy players, Abdellatif Aboukoura is with the Egypt National Team for the U-20 Arab Cup and will miss the next several days; Isaac Espinal and Kristian Fletcher also took up bench spots.

With Abdoul Zanne with D.C. United in Minnesota, Zoumana Diarra got a start and almost provided an early impact in what could have been the most dangerous chance of the first half:

Coming out of halftime, the Rowdies brought Jake Lacava and Dayonn Harris on, and the latter helped the former for the opener:

Minutes later Harris helped out another teammate, this time Steevan Dos Santos, for the second Rowdies goal:

10 minutes after Lacava scored his 10th of the season, Fernandes did the same for a 3-0 Rowdies lead:

Tyler Freeman scored his third goal in four games to get one back for the hosts:

Sebastian Dalgaard brought the Rowdies' lead back up to three minutes later:

“I thought we were pretty good for 60 or so minuutes,” coach Ryan Martin said after the game. “And I think we didn’t react well to go a goal down, and when you play a team like that, they punish you for your mistakes, and that’s why they’re one of the top teams in the league.”

“Do I think it was a 4-1 game? No,” Robinson said afterwards. “But they’re an experienced team and some mistakes we can’t make, and they put it away and we didn’t. We gave them a lot of pressure and maybe they’ll look in the mirror and say that it wasn’t a 4-1 game as well, and fortunately we have them again in Tampa.”

Loudoun (4-11-3, 15 pts) stays at Segra Field for their next game, hosting Miami FC Saturday, July 23 at 7:30pm.

Box Score

USL Championship Regular Season - Game 18
Loudoun United FC 1 (Freeman 80)
Tampa Bay Rowdies 4 (Lacava 64, Dos Santos 68, Fernandes 74, Dalgard 82)

Lineups:
Loudoun (343): Luis Zamudio; Rio Hope-Gund, Carson Vom Steeg, Grant Lillard (Hayden Sargis 75); Jalen Robinson (C), Nicky Downs, Michael Gamble, Jacob Greene (Houssou Landry 75); Zoumana Diarra (Tyler Freeman 57), Azaad Liadi (Kristian Fletcher 66), Skage Simonsen (Isaac Espinal 66)

Tampa Bay (4231): C.J. Cochran; Laurence Wyke (Ian Antley 89), Conner Antley (Yann Ekra 57), Thomas Vancaeyezeele, Aaron Guillen; Lewis Hilton, Jake Areman (Dayonn Harris 45); Sebastian Dalgaard, Steevan Dos Santos (Kyle Greig 72), Leo Fernandes; Sebastian Guenzatti (Jake Lacava 45)

Bookings:
Loudoun - None
Tampa Bay - None