Loudoun walk away again with late heartbreak.
Loudoun United hoped to reverse fortunes from their midweek 6-1 loss facing a new opponent who were missing their most dangerous weapons. And despite some encouraging performances the end was the same, as a 93rd minute goal resulted in 1-0 heartbreak in front of 1,737 at Segra Field.
Loudoun started Jeremy Garay, Jacob Greene and Hayden Sargis from D.C. United, while the bench comprised of former and current Academy players Dane Jacomen, Matai Akinmboni, Gavin Turner, Isaac Espinal, Ignacio Alem and Kristian Fletcher. The only other bench representative was loan down Gaoussou Samaké.
Both teams were slow starting but opened up more as the first half went on, with the closest chance being this Luis Zamudio save on a disallowed chance:
What. A. Save.
This reaction save from Luis Zamudio pic.twitter.com/ijvpKSsIIL
— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) July 31, 2022
The teams traded chances into the second half, until substitute Seku Conneh found the answer for Monterey, the 8th second half stoppage time goal Loudoun has allowed in its last ten games:
?
Seku Conneh gives @MontereyBayFC the lead in stoppage time!#LDNvMB pic.twitter.com/WPY9dlhmSc
— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) July 31, 2022
“I thought we actually played pretty well,” Coach Ryan Martin said after the game. “We moved the ball really well, our defensive compactness was signficantly better and from Wednesday to tonight, (made) significant progress.”
On the goal, Martin said, “The reality is we had seven guys inside the six-yard box and it gets a flick on and then a guy takes two or three touches and scores, and at this level, it costs you. It doesn’t matter what you do for the previous 90 minutes, one play off costs you points.”
Loudoun (4-14-3, 15 pts) host another California team next week when LA Galaxy II comes to Segra Field on Saturday, August 6, at 7:30 pm.
Box Score
USL Championship Regular Season – Game 21
Loudoun United FC 0
Monterey Bay FC 1 (Conneh 90+3)
Lineups:
Loudoun (4231): Luis Zamudio; Jacob Greene, Jalen Robinson (C), Carson Vom Steeg, Hayden Sargis; Jeremy Garay (Ignacio Alem 81), Nicky Downs; Abdoul Zanne, Skage Simonsen, Zoumana Diarra (Gaoussou Samaké 45), Azaad Liadi (Kristian Fletcher 70)
Monterey (343): Antony Siaha; Kai Greene, Hunter Gorskie, Hugh Roberts (C); Morey Doner, Mobi Fehr, Adrian Rebollar, Grant Robinson; Jason Johnson (Arun Basuljevic 65), Christian Volesky (Seku Conneh 79), Simon Dawkins (Sam Gleadle 65)
Bookings:
Loudoun – Diarra 12, Zanne 40, Greene 90
Monterey – Gorskie 45+2, Conneh 90+4