Hartford Athletic Beat North Carolina 4-3 in Home Finale

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USL Hartford Athletic

Hartford Athletic Beat North Carolina 4-3 in Home Finale

October 12, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Hartford Athletic News Release


Behind stellar performances from Danny Barrera and Marlon Hairston, Hartford Athletic scored four goals to beat North Carolina FC in a crucial match to keep their playoff hopes alive tonight in front of a sold out home crowd.

Hartford Athletic got out to a dream start tonight, taking the lead in the opening minutes and doubling it later in the half to comfortably separate themselves from North Carolina in a must-win match. Back to back connections between Marlon Hairston started In the ninth minute, when Barrera received the ball from Hariston just outside the top right side of the box. The 34 year old took a touch and powered his shot low, bouncing the ball past the diving Jacob McGuire.

Keeping their foot on the gas, Hartford added a second goal in the 33rd minute when Hairston found Barrera a second time. Perfectly timing his run, Barrera bursted through the midfield and Hairston lofted a ball into the wide-open attacking third. One-on-one with McGuire, Barrera placed his shot to the bottom right corner again. The longest-tenured player in club history had brought Trinity Health to its feet, and given his team a 2-0 lead.

The Green and Blue continued to have their way in the early stages of the second half, opening North Carolina up in the attacking third and extending their lead. Just three minutes into the half, Marlon Hairston fired a shot from several yards outside the box that hit the crossbar. Eight minutes later, Beverly found the back of the net off a corner kick feed from Barrera. The Congolese midfielder won the outswinging aerial ball from Barrera, floating his header up and over McGuire to the bottom right corner.

Mamadou Dieng and Michee Ngalina were the next linkup for Hartford in the 63rd minute. Chasing down a lead ball from Barrera, Ngalina squared a low cross to the middle of the box for Dieng, who poked his shot to the near post. Up 4-0, Athletic were running rampant on home turf.

North Carolina did not fade out of the match, scoring three goals and forcing an excellent save from Renan Ribeiro in stoppage time. Evan Conway got the visitors on the board in the 74th, followed by a Rodrigo Da Costa header that found the back of the net off a corner, and another from Justin Malou in the first minute of stoppage time. A minute later, Evan Conway forced a heroic save from Renan Ribeiro. North Carolina's leading goal scorer got loose in the attacking third with three defenders on his back, fired his shot low from the top right of the box, but the charging Ribeiro made a kick save with his right foot to keep Hartford in front. After four more minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle blew and the Green and Blue finished their home season with a 4-3 victory.

Danny Barrera's brace gives him 18 goals in Green and Blue, extending his record for the most in club history. The assist gives him 32 in Hartford, also the most in club history. Hairston tallied his first two assists, Ngalina recorded his third, and Mamadou Dieng reached double-digits with his 10th goal of the season.

The win moves Hartford to 11-13-7, and brings them two points below the Eastern Conference playoff line. They will play their last three matches on the road, at FC Tulsa on October 19th, at the Tampa Bay Rowdies on a date to be announced, and at Orange County on October 26th.

FAST STATS:

Shots (On-Target): Hartford 9 (5) North Carolina 20 (7)

Corners: Hartford 3 North Carolina 10

Fouls: Hartford 9 North Carolina 19

Offsides: Hartford 5 North Carolina 2

Possession: Hartford 41.8% North Carolina 58.2%

Passing Accuracy: Hartford 82.6% North Carolina 88.5%

Saves: Hartford 4 North Carolina 1

SCORING SUMMARY:

Hartford:

Danny Barrera 9' (Assist: Marlon Hairston)

Danny Barrera 33' (Assist: Marlon Hairston)

Beverly Makangila 56' (Assist: Danny Barrera)

Mamadou Dieng 64'(Assist: Michee Ngalina)

North Carolina:

Evan Conway 74' (Assist: Jacori Hayes)

Rodrigo Da Costa 83' (Assist: Michael Maldonado)

Justin Malou 90 + 1' (Assist: Michael Maldonado)

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

Hartford:

85' - Hartford bench (Yellow)

89' - Farrell (Yellow)

90 + 4' - Ribeiro (Yellow)

North Carolina:

85' - Mentzingen(Yellow)

HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP

40 (GK) Renan Ribeiro, 15 (DF) Joseph Farrell, 24 (DF) Michael DeShields, 6 (MF) Beverly Makangila, 7 (FW) Marcus Epps, 12 (MF) Anderson Asiedu, 10 (MF) Danny Barrera (Freeman, 90 + 1'); 94 (MF) Marlon Hairston (Boudadi, 73'); 11 (FW) Michee Ngalina, 33 (FW) Mamadou Dieng, 4 (DF) Jordan Scarlett

NORTH CAROLINA FC STARTING LINEUP

1 (GK) Jacob McGuire, 7 (DF) Lamar Batista, 8 (MF) Louis Perez (Sommersall, 70'); 11 (FW) Evan Conway, 14 (FW) Rafael Mentzingen, 15 (MF) Michael Maldonado, 16 (MF) Rodrigo Da Costa, 17 (MF) Collin Martin (Hayes, 70'); 27 (DF) Bryce Washington (Malou, 78'); 42 (DF) Ezra Armstrong, 2 (DF) Paco Craig

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