FIRST HALF

Loudoun United welcomed Orange County to their home field with some quick and robust pressure immediately after the first whistle blew. In only the 2nd minute of the match, a fantastic pass right into the middle of the box to Jackson Hopkins led to the first shot on goal for the game. He sent it to the bottom left post, but Colin Shutler made a diving save to keep the home team from an early lead.

The boys in orange and black also had a lot of aggressive energy on the pitch, but overcommitting on their tackles and a few poor passes allowed Loudon to completely dominate an attacking possession for the first fifteen minutes of the match. Dillon Powers may have saved the whole pace of the game early with a crucial tackle in the box after Jake Morris set himself up for a dangerous opportunity.

Thankfully that was all the time it took for the tides to change, and in the fifteenth minute, OCSC made their first critical attack. During a vital counterplay, Ryan Doghman sent a long ball over the heads of the Loudon back line right to the feet of Marc "Sparky" McNulty. Sparky controlled the ball, made a genius touch to get around the keeper, and scored with his shot into an open net giving Orange County SC an important lead.