CARY, N.C. (March 15, 2025) — North Carolina FC fell to Loudoun United, 2-1, in Week 2 of the USL Championship regular season at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday, March 15.
Rafa Mentzingen opened the scoring for the hosts in the 32’, smashing a cutback from Rodrigo Da Costa into the back of the net. Mentzingen and Da Costa were a dangerous duo off the right side for NCFC in the first half, firing off seven of the team’s eight shots in the first 45’.
Loudoun leveled the match in the 40’, with Abdellatif Aboukoura capping off a corner kick routine with a shot from outside the box. The visitors took the lead on the break in the 66’ with Ben Mines sliding the ball across to Riley Bidois for the go-ahead goal.
Quotes:
John Bradford: “It was disappointing. The first half overall and the energy that we brought was what we wanted to do. Obviously it leads to chances and we get a goal from it. The ability for us to sustain that and keep going into the second half wasn’t there tonight. We have work to do.”
John Bradford: “The season is a long one and there are a lot of games to be played. We have to take what we can from this game in terms of things that we liked and the things that we didn’t, we have to get better at quickly in an unforgiving road game coming up against Tulsa.”
Rafa Mentzingen: “It was a good team goal. It was a great start for us, but we have to follow through. I don’t think it was a complete 90’ performance. We were good in the first half, but let ourselves down in the second half. We have to build on that and get better for the next one.”
Match Notes:
- Rafa Mentzingen’s 32’ goal was his 35th in USL regular seasons (USL League One and USL Championship combined).
Up Next:
North Carolina FC will hit the road for Week 3 of the USL Championship season, traveling to FC Tulsa on Saturday, March 22, at 8 p.m. ET. The match will stream live on ESPN+.
NCFC (5-2-3): Jake McGuire; Jaden Servania (Ahmad Al-Qaq – 74’), Bryce Washington, Conor Donovan © (Paco Craig – 84’), Finn Sundstrom, Rafa Mentzingen; Collin Martin, Mikey Maldonado ; Oalex Anderson (Adam Luckhurst – 74’), Louis Perez (Ezra Armstrong – 67’), Rodrigo Da Costa (Evan Conway – 67’)
Subs not used: Akira Fitzgerald, Justin Malou, Jayson Quintanilla, Raheem Somersall
LDN (4-4-2): Hugo Faroux; Keegan Tingey, Yanis Leerman, Jacob Erlandson, Kwame Awuah; Andrew Skundrich ©, Abdellatif Aboukoura (Moses Nyeman – 74’), Wesley Leggett (Benjamin Mines – 57’ ), Thomas McCabe; Florian Valot (Christian Sorto – 90+3’), Zach Ryan (Riley Bidois – 57’)
Subs not used: Ryan Jack, Ethan Pendleton, Aaron Hurge
Score:
NCFC: 1
LDN: 2
Goals:
NCFC: R. Mentzingen (R. Da Costa) – 32’
LDN: A. Aboukoura (F. Valot) – 40’, R. Bidois (B. Mines) – 63’
Cautions:
NCFC: R. Da Costa – 61’, F. Sundstrom – 81’
LDN: J. Erlandson – 4’, K. Awuah – 9’, R. Bidois – 85’
Ejections:
NCFC: –
LDN: –
Attendance: 1,472
