North Carolina FC Falls to Loudoun United 1-2 in First Loss of the Season
Loudon's Abdellatif Aboukoura and Florian Valot overwhelm NCFC with high-powered shots and precise passing.
Maybe the pitch at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary is just slippery these days.
Last week, we saw Pittsburgh Riverhounds defender Beto Ydrach slip on the field, and North Carolina FC winger Louis Perez exploited the mistake and found Evan Conway for their first goal of the season. On Saturday night, Loudoun United goalkeeper Hugo Fauroux slipped with the ball in the area early in the match, but averted disaster and recovered in time to clear the ball.
North Carolina FC (0-1-1, 1 Point) slipped as well, conceding a 1-2 result to the visitors from Virginia in front of 1,472 fans. Loudoun United FC (2-0-0, 6 Points) remains undefeated and is first place in the Eastern Conference, while NCFC falls to sixth place.
“We are feeling really good, but obviously it’s one match at a time for us,” said Loudoun United FC head coach Ryan Martin after the win. “But for our guys to have the resilience and confidence to come back from behind in both matches and secure a big six points on the road for us, it shows what we are all about and what we are building here.”
NCFC dominated possession for the first thirty minutes as both teams slowly got up to speed. The best early moment for NCFC came around the 18th minute, when Rodrigo da Costa sent a bicycle kick on frame, forcing a save from Fauroux minutes after his slip and fall.
Loudoun’s best early moment came a minute later. An outside-the-box banger from midfielder Florian Valot gave NCFC goalkeeper Jake McGuire a scare as it bounced off the post to his right.
The match heated up in the 32nd minute when NCFC fullback Jaden Servania sent a long pass down the left side to Oalex Anderson, who sprinted downfield and crossed the ball on the ground right in front of the goal. A sliding Rafael “Rafa” Mentzingen wasn’t able to get a handle on the ball, but da Costa was able to regain possession on the right side as Mentzingen recovered.
Da Costa was challenged by Loudoun defender Jacob Erlandson in the corner, but Erlandson fell victim to a nasty nutmeg from Da Costa on the dribble. Instead of a flashy shot, Da Costa made a perfect pass through traffic to find Mentzingen at the penalty spot, and he Mentzingen slotted it in the goal.
“It was a good team goal,” said Mentzingen at a post-match press conference. “It was a great start for us, but we have to follow through.”
Eight minutes later, Loudoun would equalize off of a set piece. Abdellatif Aboukoura would get his own hockey assist on the play as he sent the short corner to Valot, who sent it back to Aboukoura at the top left corner of the penalty box. Aboukoura launched the ball towards McGuire, who attempted a five-finger save with his left mitt, but didn’t have enough stopping power to keep Loudoun’s equalizer out of the net.
It was Aboukoura’s second goal in as many matches.
“I’m feeling good, we just need to stay consistent and not look too far ahead,” said Aboukoura. “It’s important to take things game by game and stay focused on ourselves.”
As the final minutes of the half progressed, both sides were lucky to be level when they made it to the locker room. Seconds after Loudoun’s goal, NCFC striker Oalex Anderson had an open chance on goal but was called offsides.
Then, a minute later, Aboukoura took another excellent strike from the same spot as his goal. Yet again, McGuire’s one-handed save didn’t end the play as the ball popped up in the air, giving Loudoun’s Zach Ryan an easy header into the goal. This time, however, McGuire was saved by the offsides flag.
Mentzingen and Valot traded good chances before the halftime whistle, with the latter’s blast forcing a save. Mentzingen and Da Costa combined for seven of NCFC’s eight shots in the first half.
Though the sides were generally evenly matched, Loudoun’s shots had so much more power behind them, creating a much greater challenge for McGuire than NCFC created for Fauroux.
“The first half overall and the energy that we brought was what we wanted to do,” said North Carolina FC head coach John Bradford at a post-match press conference. “Obviously it leads to chances and we get a goal from it.”
The second half was less favorable to the hosts. Anderson was still making strong runs for NCFC, and Mentzingen was able to get open looks, but the finishing wasn’t there. Loudoun’s defense did a better job limiting NCFC’s chances, and their precise ball movement was on display throughout the half, including on the play that gave them their second goal.
Riley Bidois and Ben Mines came on for Loudoun in the 57th minute, and six minutes later they would link up for the decisive goal. The play started with Fauroux, and the ball eventually made it to Aboukora, who made an excellent pass to find Valot.
Valot found Mines on the right, sprinting towards the goal. NCFC captain Conor Donovan immediately protested, appealing to the official for an offsides call. Mines, meanwhile, took the ball into the penalty box, and found Bidois on the run at the goal line.
McGuire had no chance as Bidois earned his first goal of the season, and Mines posted his first-ever assist for Loudoun.
“It was disappointing,” said Bradford. “The ability for us to sustain [the first half performance] and keep going into the second half wasn’t there tonight. We have work to do.”
Mentzingen agreed.
“I don’t think it was a complete 90’ performance. We were good in the first half, but let ourselves down in the second half. We have to build on that and get better for the next one.”
While Loudoun will continue their opening road trip in Pennsylvania for the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup - an early berth due to finishing 11th in the East last year - North Carolina FC and the other 2024 USL Championship playoff teams will enter the Open Cup in the third round. Loudoun faces West Chester United SC of the National Premier Soccer League and USL League Two amateur leagues on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:30 PM EDT.
NCFC’s next test comes on Saturday, March 22 at 8:00 PM EDT in Oklahoma, where they will play their first road match of the season against an undefeated FC Tulsa (2-0-0, 6 Points). NCFC will be without Anderson, who leaves on international duty for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
“The season is a long one and there are a lot of games to be played,” said Bradford. “We have to take what we can from this game in terms of things that we liked and the things that we didn’t, we have to get better at quickly in an unforgiving road game coming up against Tulsa.”