In-Form Orange County Take On Much Improved Loudoun
Ousmane Sylla
In the very volatile USL Championship, Orange County’s rollercoaster of a 2025 season is coming back up a hill. The Orange & Black have won consecutive games for the first time in the season and have done so with a strong defense and timely scoring. After stealing 3 crucial points from Sacramento in the USL Cup, OCSC returns back to regular season play with just their second matchup against an Eastern Conference opponent.
Orange County has had no issues when welcoming Eastern Conference teams to Southern California. In the last four seasons, including 2025, Orange County have only lost four home games to Eastern Conference opponents. The same cannot be said though when it comes to Orange County traveling to the East. In that same timeframe, OC are just a measly 4-4-8 when playing true Eastern Conference opponents including losing their last four matchups by a combined goal differential of -12. In fact the last time Orange County scored a goal East of the Mississippi was Milan Iloski’s winner against Indy XI in Morten Karlsen’s last game as manager back in June of 2024.
They will enter into their rare Thursday evening matchup against a team who has a surprisingly checkered past with Orange County. Currently sitting third in the Eastern Conference is Orange County’s opponent, Loudoun United FC.
THE OPPONENT - LOUDOUN UNITED FC
Since the USL returned to inter-conference matchups in 2022 it saw the return of a number of truly historic matchups for Orange County from the USL of old. OCSC finally got to play their fellow USL original members in Pittsburgh and Charleston and face off against Tampa Bay in a low stakes affair. However one team that has left a sour taste in the mouths of OC fans has been Loudoun. Loudoun is infamous for adding to Orange County’s legacy of failure in the Open Cup when the two teams met in 2024 and Loudoun promptly punched OC in the mouth. Loudoun at the time was not seen as a good team by any means yet they had traveled from coast to coast and spoiled Orange County’s big day in the cup. OC even wore special kits for the occasion and got knocked out at home. A whole article could be written about Orange County’s ineptitude in the US Open Cup but that is for another time.
What some people might not remember off quick thinking is that Loudoun actually played OC again in the USL a couple of weeks later and won that game as well. 2025 however has been a different story and Loudoun has gotten off to an amazing start. Loudoun United has not been a good team historically. In fact 2024 was the first time they ended with a positive goal differential in club history. However they are two years removed from being the academy team of DC United in the MLS and are beginning to establish themselves as its own entity. Through 14 games played they have earned 25 points with a GD of +4 which is good enough for third in the East.
What might be the biggest surprise is that they are doing so with really the same team from last year. Besides the typical academy team signings, Loudoun only signed one new player and even he had ties to Loudoun originally. Team manager Ryan Martin has done a great job in 2025 even if they are starting to lose a bit of steam. They have loses in four of their last seven games.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The biggest threat for Loudoun is that of Egyptian midfielder Abdellatif Aboukoura. Aboukoura is only 20 years old but has scored 11 times in 14 games. Tied for the league lead and he has nearly accounted for half of the goals scored this season. That does not even count what he has done in the USL Cup. Quite the improvement for a player who has already tripled his total goal amount from last season. Aboukoura has spent his entire four season career with Loudoun but has become one of the USL’s biggest stars. One of his most underrated abilities is that he can play any attacking position on the field from striker to midfielder and on both sides of the field.
On the orange side of things, the hero of the game from last week was Pedro Guimaraes whose stoppage time goal saw Sacramento once again fall victim to a young OC player in big games. While much attention has been made about the offensive prospects that Orange County has, Pedro may be the first outside back who can go on to bigger and better things. This season Pedro has already scored two goals from the left back position with both coming in the USL Cup. He has already gotten exposure with the US National Youth teams and consistently finds himself in the starting XI for the senior team. Doing all of this at just 17 years of age and being from Aliso Viejo should make him the model player that OC is looking at developing.
Orange County at Loudoun Predicted starting 11
PREDICTED STARTING XI
Orange County is playing their best soccer and in doing so will field its strongest lineup in my opinion. This means Ryan Doghman and Nico Benalcazar will slot in at the outside backs and Stephen Kelly will enter into the midfield. With really only Doody and Trager on the injured list this leaves the rest of the attacking side as all USL veterans with Ethan Zubak looking to continue his scoring form from last game. Colin Shutler gets the net back in his homecoming match being from Loudoun County.
THE MATCHUP
This will be just the second time ever that OC travels to Loudoun County. The first time saw OC come away with a 3-1 win back in 2023 with goals from McNulty, Iloski and Osundina. Orange County are still below the playoff line in the West but have a handful of games in hand. It must be said however that the margin of error is becoming smaller and smaller each week with Lexington starting to click. OC sits just two points above last place Lexington and Oakland. However a win for Orange County could see them jump to as high as sixth in the West. There are no big glaring milestones left for Orange County to achieve in 2025 but they will have their work cut out for them with a cross country trip on top of a short week.
What to know
Game - @ Loudoun United FC (USL Championship)
When - July 3rd, 4:00 PM PST
Where - Segra Field (Leesburg, VA)
OCSC Form - WWLLW
LUFC Form - WLLWD
All-Time Matchup - 2-0-2 (4 Matchups)
TV - ESPN+
Don’t miss the next episode of the Orange & Black SoccerCast, LIVE July 8 at 8pm Pacific on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, or later in the week on Spotify.