Orange County SC lost their fourth consecutive match, 2-0, to Loudoun United on Saturday night.
The match was a start-stop affair, with a number of tackles, fouls, and injuries that disrupted play throughout the evening. Thomas Amang in particular was a focal point of the injuries. The forward was bloodied twice in two different challenges before colliding late in the match with Hugo Fauroux.
Florian Valot capitalized on a misplaced pass to open the scoring in the 34th minute.
Orange County barely threatened outside of an early chance from Cameron Dunbar, as the offensive woes continued for the hosts. Bryce Jamison and late substitute Marcus Lee did well to move through the opposition, but could not trouble Fauroux with their shots.
In the lead, Loudoun continued to press, and when the press was beaten, simply filled the middle of the pitch with players, forcing OC to play long balls that were easily dealt with.
Ashton Miles was controversially sent off in the 95th minute as he conceded a penalty to Wesley Leggett, in apparent abandonment of the “double jeopardy” rule where teams are not punished with red cards when a penalty is given due to a foul. Zach Ryan scored the penalty to confirm the win for Loudoun.
Further controversy ensued when Abdellatif Aboukoura replaced Ryan in Loudoun’s fourth substitution window of the night.
The result means that OCSC finish the month of May without picking up any points. OC have dropped to fourth in the league, six points off of New Mexico United, who lead the Western Conference.