We’re midway through our trip up and down the Atlantic Division, and the next stop is our nearest USL Championship opponent for 2021, Loudoun United FC.
The Riverhounds have won all five meetings with Loudoun, the D.C. United affiliate, since they entered the USL Championship in the 2019 season. The most recent of those was no cakewalk, however, as an Albert Dikwa goal in the 81st minute was needed to get a 1-0 win at Segra Field in Leesburg, Va., on Sept. 19, 2020.
Loudoun United has yet to reach the playoffs, falling just four points short in their inaugural season before finishing last in Group F with a 1-9-3 record a season ago. As they did a year ago, they will rely on a bevy of younger players to fill out the lineup. That could lead to some inconsistency, but also a potential to surprise opponents.
Ryan Martin remains at the helm for a third season Loudoun, and the cupboard wasn’t completely bare for him entering the season with Nigerien 20-year-old forward Kairou Amoustapha and 19-year-old Virginia native Ted Ku-DiPietro in the midfield both returning from 2020.
The team also added midfielder Drew Skundrich, who spent the past two seasons in Sacramento, and they return defender Robby Dambrot, a player with plenty of Pittsburgh ties as a former college player for Pitt who is the son of Duquesne basketball coach Keith Dambrot.
The Hounds will see Loudoun early and often in their schedule, as they travel to Leesburg for their first midweek game of the season Wednesday, June 2.
The teams meet again June 30 in Virginia and July 17 at Highmark Stadium before the season series culminates with a Sept. 11 meeting in Pittsburgh.
