The Union lost a game in Charlotte, the Supporters’ Shield to LAFC, and Kai Wagner to a suspension

In the wake of the Union’s worst loss of the season, manager Jim Curtin did all the things he usually does. He apologized to the fans who traveled to the 4-0 rout at Charlotte FC and the fans who watched at home; he stepped around blaming anyone individually for his team’s poor play; and he promised better in next Sunday’s regular-season finale against Toronto FC (2:30 p.m., PHL17).

“As a team, we didn’t play well,” Curtin said. “From our forwards not holding the ball up to our midfield being loose with passes to our back line, we weren’t strong enough on the night. Part of it is they made it hard on us; part of it is we only had three or four guys put a good shift in.”

This was no ordinary loss, though, and not just because of the score.

Combined with Los Angeles FC’s 2-1 win at Portland on Sunday, it ended the Supporters’ Shield race. LAFC won the trophy for the league’s best record for the second time in four years.

Gareth Bale, Carlos Vela and company will thus have home-field advantage all the way through the playoffs. But Union fans should keep in mind that the Shield winner has won MLS Cup just seven times in the league’s 26 seasons. LAFC’s conference final loss in 2019 and the Union’s second-round exit in 2020 are among the failures.

Of more immediate concern is Kai Wagner’s suspension for the Toronto game. It will be the first Union game he misses this year, and he probably has just a few left with a move to Europe likely this winter.

» READ MORE: Union crushed by Charlotte FC, 4-0, in worst loss of season

Alejandro Bedoya’s absence is also a worry. It made sense to hold him out of a game on artificial turf that was expected to be played in a hurricane’s remnants — before Ian arrived and left early. But, still, the Union’s captain now has missed three weeks of games, and the Union dropped points in the two that mattered: this one and the Sept. 18 scoreless tie at Atlanta.

In fact, it might be more than one something. Along with missing Bedoya’s two-way game in central midifield, his absence affects how much the Union’s right back can get forward in attacking play. That will become even more important if Olivier Mbaizo returns to the starting lineup next week, which he presumably will.

It’s one thing for the Union’s defense to struggle without Bedoya. But even his critics must acknowledge the attack has gone silent without him. Jack McGlynn and Leon Flach are both good individually, but something is missing from the whole when Bedoya isn’t there.

“We talked about, before the game, guys not trying to do more on the field soccer-wise, but maybe leadership-wise, everybody taking a stronger and a bigger role,” Curtin said. “We wanted to make tonight, though, the last time we went on the road all season and we didn’t get the job done.”

» READ MORE: JP Dellacamera says farewell after 13 years as the Union's lead TV play-by-play broadcaster

Fortunately, the cheekbone injury that Jack Elliott suffered during the second half Saturday turned out to be insignificant. X-rays on Elliott taken at the facility inside Bank of America Stadium came back negative, so he should be fine.

But the scare is a more notable reminder that Elliott was unfortunately omitted from the list of finalists for MLS Defender of the Year. Each team could nominate only two candidates. The Union put up Kai Wagner, of course, and picked Jakob Glesnes over Elliott at centerback.

Brandan Craig is the only other centerback able to come off the Union’s bench. He has played just three official minutes with the Union’s first team so far this year. The rest of his minutes have come in exhibitions or scrimmages, or with the Union’s reserves, or with the U.S. under-20 national team.

Nobody in blue and gold is panicking. Again, in case any fans need reminding, the Union aren’t the Phillies. The worst the Union can finish is second in the East and third leaguewide, and a win by any margin against Toronto will clinch first in the conference.

“I know how they’ll respond next week,” Curtin promised. “In our last six [games before Charlotte] we go 5-0-1, so tonight was not us, and we know that we’re [angry] about it. We have to end the season the right way in front of our fans against Toronto.”

» READ MORE: Review: ESPN’s investigation of abuse in the NWSL tells a lot of truths, but there are more still to tell

Now it’s time to see how the Eastern Conference standings will shake out. Here are the remaining games that impact the race.

Wednesday: Charlotte FC vs. Columbus, 7 p.m. (ESPN+); Inter Miami vs. Orlando City, 8 p.m. (ESPN+)

Oct. 9 (all games at 2:30 p.m): Union vs. Toronto FC (PHL17), Inter Miami vs. CF Montréal (ESPN+), Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew (FS1, Fox Deportes), Atlanta United vs. New York City FC (ESPN+), New York Red Bulls vs. Charlotte FC (ESPN+), D.C. United vs. FC Cincinnati

» READ MORE: What is the Supporters’ Shield worth to the Union? Our writers debate the trophy’s value.