RB2 suffer first loss to Loudoun United

The 2019 USL Championship Season is off to a great start for the Red Bulls USL side, as they have been fighting hard, converting chances, as well as earning solid results against their Eastern Conference opponents.

Well with the exception of their road match at the Birmingham Legion as that match started, then ended quickly with a horrible storm that cancelled it and awating the make up date to be announced.

Their next match at home durring this three game homestand at MSU Soccer Park is the brand new expansion side in Loudoun United FC side who is owned by the Red Bulls most hated rivals in DC United.

Well with the very first match up between these two sides in the USL Championship level, the rookies took the very first meeting as they downed Red Bulls 2 by a final of three goals to one.

After Mathias Jorgensen opened the scoring in the 4th minute, it looked like the REd Bulls, were going to take command of this match. Yet for head coach and former DC/RBNY player Richie Williams had other ideas.

Loudoun United converted twice within an eight minute span. Orlando Sinclair was able to convert the equalizer inside the fourteenth minute, as he outran Sean Nealis along the far side, then he shot the ball and got his own rebound after the initial save by Evan Louro.

Then Loudoun got their second goal from another long rebound chance, as Andy Lubahn snuck up in an open area, and pounded home the rebound to take the lead in the 22nd minute. Not a single RB2 player was in a hurry to track the ball, as Lubahn buried his chance inside the near post.

It ended late in the second half as Kyle Murphy was making a good run towards the ball that was crossed along the near side, was able to get into position and with a slight diving header, beats Louro for the three goals to one victory.

Even though Red Bulls 2 played a better second half, showed plenty in the attack, the man of the match was Loudoun United Goalkeeper Calle Brown, as he was brilliant on his line. The starter making five or more saves to prevent the home side, from getting a second goal.

In their fifth game of their six game road trip, Loudoun United finally earned their first win of their USL Championship inaugural season and as of right now, the bragging rights goes to the DC United side that owns this club in the second division.

“I thought we struggled defensively to be honest. Obviously, we missed some chances, but to give up three goals today was frustrating at home, especially with scoring first. That was one of the things we were talking about, we thought we’d have success if we scored first, but it almost stabbed us in the back.” said head coach John Wolyniec “You know, obviously when you have a midweek game, sometimes it’s difficult to turn around. But physically, I thought we should have been alright. We had enough guys on the field that played either less minutes or no minutes on Wednesday. So, I think it’s just one of those things where we thought the result was in hand and it wasn’t by any stretch.

“Credit to Loudoun, they came out and after the goal was scored their response was good. We were on the back foot for a long stretch, it wasn’t just one or two actions. We gave up a lot of corner kicks, a lot of shots in the box, we were second to a lot of balls, hesitant to rebounds and deflections.

It seemed like it bounced to them all the time and most of the time that means that we’re not 100% focused and ready and we’re being a little hesitant rather than progressive and proactive. So, I think in the second half we played better, and the offense came to life.

We had some chances in the first half too, but we were a bit more deliberate about it in the second half and, you know, sometimes you get down and you get a little tense and the final touch and shot isn’t always easy.

So, certainly frustrating but it’s a warning. You can’t let up against any teams, you can’t let up in any moments… up a goal, down a goal, up two goals, you still got to keep fighting and hopefully we learned that lesson because if we take that forward, we’ll be pretty successful.”

But it’s time for this RB2 side to relax and enjoy the holiday this Sunday, as they will be back at it next Sunday to take on Indy Eleven at MSU Soccer Park, shake this loss off and get back on that horse to get another three points.