Everything Loudoun United FC has shown us this season says they’re a contender.

One-third of the way through the regular season, the club ranks in the top three in the USL Championship with 19 goals and in the top four with 10 goals conceded – and sits there as well in Expected Goals Against (10.22xGA).

Put it together and United is in the top three in American Soccer Analysis’ Expected Points metric at 17.21 xP, not far off its current total of 21 points from a 7-3-0 record.

On top of that, the side is a perfect 4-0-0 at Segra Field and sitting on top of Group 5 in the USL Jägermeister Cup with a 2-0-0 record.

If you’re looking for a key stretch of the season for Head Coach Ryan Martin’s side to prove it’s here to fight for the Players’ Shield, though, it may be the one the side is currently in the midst of, taking on the top three sides from last year’s Eastern Conference standings.

• HISTORIC RESULT: Loudoun opened the stretch last Saturday against Louisville City, and while that game came in the USL Jägermeister Cup, it provided a key moment all the same. United’s first victory against LouCity since 2019 behind goals from Abdellatif Aboukoura and Zach Ryan showed how far the side has come even this season after two prior defeats at Lynn Family Stadium in the league and Open Cup.

• TOP OF THE TABLE TILT: Up next for United? The current Eastern Conference-leading Charleston Battery, who have set the league on fire for the past month-plus. The Battery are on a seven-game winning streak in the Championship, scoring 21 goals in that span, with Cal Jennings also on a heater with goal contributions in nine straight games. The last time Loudoun defeated the Battery? Also in 2019, with Charleston holding a 10-game undefeated streak in the series.

• TIME FOR A BREAKTHROUGH: The last of the three games comes against Detroit City on Saturday, June 14, and while Le Rouge might be in a slump of their own at present after going winless in the month of May, they’re still in fifth place in the standings. On top of that, they’ve never lost to Loudoun in six prior meetings, the only active member of the Eastern Conference that United has yet to defeat.

So, it’s a key stretch of games, but it’s one that Martin and his team are prepared to take in stride, in the same way they’ve approached every game of the season so far.

“We are the best right now when we follow our process, which is taking one game at a time,” Martin told Devon Kerr and Joe Malfa on USL All Access this week. “It really is learning from one and going to the next and trying to be better week-to-week. We know it’s a difficult stretch, obviously we started with Louisville this past weekend, but the other thing we’ve also found is when we’ve played Louisville the last two times, it forced us to be better, it forced us to improve, and it forced us to be a better team.

“We quite like these games right now. I know [Battery Head Coach] Ben [Pirmann], for example, this weekend against Charleston is going to force us to be better, and force them to be better is my hope on our side as well, but when you play the top teams in the league, you have to learn from it.”

We’ve already learned plenty about Loudoun United this season.

We might be about to find out just how good they might be.

READ MORE

• How Loudoun United went from feeder club to USL trophy threat: “We’ve earned respect” | John Morrissey, Backheeled

• How Loudoun United’s Abdellatif Aboukoura became the USL Championship’s next breakout star