Recap: Loudoun beat Hartford 3-0

Loudoun beat Hartford for the first time in franchise history.

Wednesday night saw Ryan Martin coach his 100th game for Loudoun United in three seasons of ups and downs, and could never crack the night’s opposition in the Hartford Athletic. And perhaps in honor of that milestone, Loudoun’s performance was polished, scoring all of their goals in the second half leading to a 3-0 win, the first in 12 tries with Hartford, in front of 2,073 at Segra.

With D.C. United on the international break several players were loaned down for the night; Matai Akinmboni made his Loudoun starting debut at left fullback, while Kimarni Smith played at left midfield, next to Ted Ku-DiPietro; Jacob Greene inhabited the right back spot, while Kristian Fletcher and Gavin Turner were among the bench players.

Loudoun started out of the gates early but couldn’t convert:

Loudoun turned the ball over in their half and Hartford had a chance of their own near halftime:

Early in the second half, Ku-DiPietro had two strong attacks in the Hartford box, and scored on the second:

Tyler Freeman provided the brace for Loudoun midway through the second half:

And added to the lead with a brace:

“It was pretty good,” Martin said after the game. “That was a collective, dominant performance, (I’m) just happy for them and they’re all excited to be here for the first win (over Hartford) as well, especially some of the guys that have been around like Ted and the younger guys like (Jacob Greene), so it was a big moment.”

“He said to just go out there and put in a shift, and I did what I could to help the team,” Freeman said following the game. “I had a couple of good goals, and Skage (Simonsen, gave) a great ball again, and I was just fortunate enough to be on the end of them and score. All three of us (including Ku-DiPietro) have really good chemistry so it finally paid off in the game.”

“Three-nil with a team that’s in good form or one of the best teams right now in form, that’s a good one,” Jalen Robinson said afterwards. “We just brought a little more intensity to (Hartford), in front of our home fans, and we did it.”

“I had no idea until Sunday, Clariens (Cheridieu, team Operations Director) told me in the airport coming back from Louisville,” Martin said on game 100. “It’s funny when you look back, the amount of really good moments similar to this, and a lot of really good people in Loudoun, whether it’s staff, players or front office personnel that have gone on. It’s fun to see them move on but also know that they played a part in this as well.”

Loudoun (8-19-3, 27 pts) return to the road to play Indy Eleven next Sunday, September 25 at 5:00 pm.

Box Score

USL Championship Regular Season – Game 30

Loudoun United FC 3 (Ku-DiPietro 50, Freeman 71, 74)

Hartford Athletic 0

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Lineups:
Loudoun (4231): Luis Zamudio; Jacob Greene, Jalen Robinson (C), Carson Vom Steeg, Makai Akinmboni (Abdoul Zanne 62); Nicky Downs, Houssou Landry (Tyler Freeman 66); Zoumana Diarra (Gavin Turner 77), Ted Ku-DiPietro, Kimarni Smith; Skage Simonsen (Azaad Liadi 77)

Hartford (4141): Yannik Oettl; Younes Boudadi, Walid Yacoubou, Modou Jadama, Joel Johnson (Rashaun Dally 87); Tom Brewitt; Peter-Lee Vassell (Logan Gdula 58), Danny Barrera (Jeciel Cedeno 72), Andre Lewis (Luc Prpa 87), Prince Saydee; Ariel Martinez (Juan Carlos Obregon Jr. 72)

Bookings:
Loudoun – Simonsen 31, Akinmboni 51, Smith 90+6
Hartford – Saydee 44, Yacoubou 45+1, Brewitt 63