Recap: Loudoun thump 10-man Red Bulls in 3-0 win

Loudoun took advantage of an early red to roll.

Loudoun United started Saturday as the first game of Week 2 of the USL Championship against a New York Red Bulls II side that was playing their third game in seven days, but this game was the home opener for the Baby Bulls. After some initial difficulty with the opposition, a red card turned the tide for the Red-and-White and led to a 3-0 win in front of 460 at MSU Soccer Park. The win was Loudoun’s second in a row, and marked the first time in team history they opened the season with two straight wins.

With Ted Ku-DiPietro and Azaad Liadi with D.C. United, coach Ryan Martin brought Jackson Hopkins and Jeremy Garay in (respectively), with no other changes from last week’s 1-0 win over Indy Eleven. All of the D.C. loandowns (Garay, Jacob Greene, Hayden Sargis, Kimarni Smith) started Saturday afternoon.

A tight first half found Loudoun on their heels early on, but a Christopher Cragwell foul on Jackson Hopkins led referee Jervis Atagana to pull out a red card in the 26th minute. The red was the second straight game RBNY2 had a red card, and the second straight game Loudoun’s opponent committed a red offense. Hopkins was able to walk with assistance off the field and said it had felt much better Saturday night, sounding positive. Tyler Freeman, recently acquired on loan from Sporting Kansas City II, came on for Hopkins.

Freeman would open the scoring for Loudoun, who pressed and forced a turnover that led to the first goal:

The goal led to some teammate cheering from afar:

Freeman continued his impact on the other end of the second half:

To cap the day Greene, who had an excellent performance on the day, got the second of his pro career:

The next game for Loudoun (2-0-0, 3 pts) is on the road, playing Saturday night at Miami FC.

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Box Score

USL Championship Regular Season – Game 2

New York Red Bulls II 0
Loudoun United FC 3 (Freeman 52, 60, Greene 76)

Lineups:
RBNY2 (433): Anthony Marcucci; O’Vonte Mullings (Arian Recinos 69), Christopher Cragwell, Juan Castillo, John Cortez (Curtis Ofori 69); Jeremy Rafanello, Sam Williams, John Murphy (C); Jonathan Filipe (Lamine Conte 30), Jordan Adebayo-Smith (Ezra Widman 58), Zach Ryan (Illia Tyrkus 69)

Loudoun (3412): Luis Zamudio; Rio Hope-Gund (C), Hayden Sargis, Grant Lillard; Jacob Greene (Jace Clark 84), Nicky Downs, Jeremy Garay, Sami Guediri; Michael Gamble (Landry Houssou 73); Kimarni Smith (Isaac Espinal 73), Jackson Hopkins (Tyler Freeman 28),

Bookings:
RBNY2 – Murphy 17, Cragwell 26 (RC), Ofori 79
Loudoun – Greene 13, Hope-Gund 54