Loudoun United FC knocked West Chester United out in the First Round of the 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on the back of a Riley Bidois brace. The home side were the ones who opened the scoring, via a Yassine Elkhaloun penalty kick. Although the amateurs kept the pressure on, Loudoun’s attack proved to be too powerful.
An elegant move saw an open Riley Bidois tap home from close range to equalize. After the half, Loudoun converted a penalty of their own, before Bidois bagged his second with an adept 1-v-1 finish. West Chester kept things interesting through a Kenneth Roby strike that brought them within one, but were unable to find a 3rd goal despite some late chances. The result sees Loudoun United advance to the Second Round. It marks the third year in a row that United has advancd in their first game.
On a pleasant evening that turned chilly with the sun’s setting, West Chester and Loudoun faced off for the first time in history under the lights at YSC Sports in Wayne, Pa. Both sides wasted no time, each creating several dangerous opportunities in the opening minutes of back and forth action. Under heavy pressure from three West Chester players, Riley Bidois lost the ball in his own half. Forward Joshua Luccini slipped midfielder Kenneth Roby in on net but Hugo Faroux’s kick save kept West Chester off the board.
The Pegasus responded with a few of their own attacks and it seemed like they would open the scoring. In the 7th minute, midfielder Benjamin Mines sent a curving cross onto the foot of forward Bidois, but the New Zealander’s shot was inches wide.
Not long after, the hosts opened the scoring in the 17th minute. Luccini played his winger Ayoub Mouhou into Loudoun’s area. Defender Alex Nagy applied pressure but his tackle attempt tripped Mouhou, causing head referee Joshua Encarnación to point to the spot. Yassine Elkhaloun stepped up and sent Loudoun keeper Faroux the wrong way, as he stroked home from 12 yards out.
West Chester, with the fans at YSC roaring them on, kept the pressure on Loudoun for the next several minutes. In the 22nd minute, Mouhou drove forward on the break and switched to Roby who cut back for midfielder Marcus Brenes’s late run. Brenes shot but Faroux was again equal to the task.
As the first half wore on, momentum swung in favor of Loudoun United. After probing the West Chester defence, the Pegasus took flight with an elegant maneuver to score. After regaining possession near midfield, the ball came to striker Christian Sorto. He bobbed and weaved through the West Chester wing before passing to Hurge. Hurge clipped a pinpoint cross to Mines, who volleyed a pass to a waiting Bidois at the back post for the leveller in the 37th minute.
The score remained at one apiece heading into the halftime break.
Early into the second half, Loudoun United would take the lead with a penalty of their own. In the 47th minute, a lurking Benjamin Mines was first to a spilled ball from WCU goalie Andrew Cooke. Mines collected and looked set to score but was brought down by Cooke in the keeper’s attempt to regain possession. Encarnación initially signaled advantage, as West Chester still had the ball, but Bidois’s miss caused the referee to point to the spot. Sorto was the chosen man for Loudoun. He shuffled his feet in the run up and sent Cooke the wrong way to give Loudoun the lead.
The Pegasus doubled their advantage not long after. Bidois would find his brace in the 61st minute. After a backheel flick from Sorto found midfielder Surafel Mengestu, the Ethiopian’s pass deflected off West Chester’s Ammit Bhogal and bounced favorably for Bidois. The Kiwi deftly finished past Cooke to bag his brace.
Not content to let things get boring, West Chester pulled one back in the 68th minute. Loudon substitute Yanis Leerman hit a hard pass to Mengestu who miscontrolled. Mouhou was ready to pounce and pushed past Mengestu before playing Roby through on goal. The former SUNY New Paltz Eagle made no mistake, and his low finish sent a shockwave of hope through YSC Sports.
With an impassioned West Chester pushing for an equalizer, there was always bound to be some drama. Deep into the 5 added minutes of stoppage time, the game threatened to boil over.
West Chester sub Giancarlo Vaccaro burned Loudoun’s Benjamin Mines with a slick dummy turn, and looked to be streaking towards goal. Mines, determined to stop the Eagles from scoring, could only haul Vaccaro down in desperation. As Encarnación blew for a foul, Vaccarro furiously went after Mines and pushed him to the ground, sparking an altercation between both teams.
After things calmed down, Encarnación booked both players and West Chester restarted with a free kick near mid-field. Every WCU player lined up in Loudoun’s box, including the goalie, in a final attempt to carve out a goal. After Loudoun cleared the initial ball, it came out to West Chester’s Ammit Bhogal on the edge of the box. Bhogal felt the push of the smaller Aaron Hurge, but went down too easily. Encarnación ignored the pleas of the WCU players and fans who felt otherwise, even booking Andrew Cooke for his excessive protest on the way back to his net.
That was the last meaningful action of the game as the whistle blew for full time shortly after.
When asked about his team’s performance on the night Loudon Head Coach Ryan Martin stated that lots of his players played well, with several making their first ever starts for the club he went to surmise the importance of winning in a knockout game, “… It’s really important when you get into these moments here…to find a way to advance. Whether it’s penalty kicks, last minute, when they got everybody in the box, it’s the last service of the game you got to find a way to clear it out and make a play. Our guys did enough to win the game. We made it harder on ourselves than we had to but, incredibly proud that they pulled off a result here on the road and in a tough place”.
Loudon will advance to the Second Round of the Open Cup and will look to reach at least the Round of 32 for the third year running. West Chester can hold their heads high but have not advanced past the opening round since 2019.
Lynchburg FC prevailed over FC Maritsa in a back and forth affair that ultimately ended 1-0 thanks to a strong finish from Tudor Barna in the 47th minute.