Loudoun United had an opportunity at Audi Field to level their playing record at 3-3-3 with a win over Hartford Athletic, who had yet to win a USL Championship game this season (they had won a U.S. Open Cup game last week). An exchange of three goals in nine minutes found Loudoun on the worse end of it, losing 2-1 to Hartford in front of 825 at Audi Field.

Following a fairly uneventful first half (the teams combined for one shot on goal), Hartford came out aggressively early in the second half, as Sebastian Dalgaard attacked down the left side of the field where Jack Villatoro was defending, and found several opportunities for Jose Angulo to fire shots at Earl Edwards Jr. In the 58th minute, Angulo fired a shot that Edwards saved, but he slotted the rebound home for a 1-0 Hartford lead. Five minutes later, a backpass from Hartford defender Nikolai Lyngo skipped by goalkeeper Jacob Lissek and into the back of the net. Following the goal, Angulo found himself with space at the top of the box and only needed one shot to beat Edwards to regain the lead 2-1. Loudoun would continue to press, though an early second half header by Kyle Murphy in front of goal that went wide remained the best chance Loudoun had on the night.

Loudoun (2-4-3) expects to field several players for Wednesday’s friendly between D.C. United and Real Betis, as their next game is Wednesday, June 5 at Swope Park Rangers.