Hartford Draw Tampa Bay 2-2 on the Road
October 23, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Hartford Athletic News Release
A lead in the second half didn't hold for Hartford Athletic tonight, but first half goals from Marcus Epps and Mamadou Dieng helped the Green and Blue to a 2-2 draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Hartford Athletic got out on the front foot tonight, bending Tampa Bay's back line from the opening whistle and breaking through to score in the 15th minute. A flawless sequence of passes began with a Congolese connection, as Beverly Makangila found Michee Ngalina on the top left side of the box. He laid the ball off towards the byline for Emmanuel Samadia on an overlapping run, and the left back put his cross into the box on his first touch through traffic. Marcus Epps was there on the other end, touching his shot into the bottom left corner to put Hartford up 1-0.
The Rowdies had a swift response to the early concession, drawing a free kick just outside the box in the 20th minute and scoring off of it. Leo Fernandes drove the kick off of Michee Ngalina on Hartford's wall, recovered the rebound, and snuck his shot to the left corner to beat Renan Ribeiro.
The match opened up even more after the Tampa Bay equalizer, with both squads creating dangerous chances before 45 minutes concluded. Michee Ngalina nearly drew a penalty after being fouled just a few feet outside the box, then put a shot right across the face of the goal. Joshua Perez sent a shot from close range over the crossbar, and Freddy Kleemann cleared a ball off the line for Tampa Bay in the 41st minute. Ribeiro sent a quality ball into the box from Hartford's half that deflected off Ngalina, trickled towards goal with Jordan Farr out of position, but Kleemann got his right foot to it before it could cross the goal line. After this play, Brendan Burke was given a red card and ejected from the match.
With four minutes of stoppage time added, the Green and Blue delivered one more punch to the Rowdies in the half's final action. Makangila linked up with Ngalina again, hitting the speedy winger in stride up the right flank and into the box. Ngalina pinpointed his pass to Mamadou Dieng, who one-timed his shot to beat Farr to the near post. The 20 year old's 11th goal of the season put his team in front 2-1, and broke Hartford's single season club record.
Determined to level the match again, the home side established an early presence in Hartford's half at the start of the second half. They owned 68.2% of possession through the first 15 minutes, and were rewarded with a Cal Jennings goal in the 64th minute. A cross from Blake Bodily was partially deflected by Younes Bouadi, sending a front spinning ball down towards the right post. Jennings soared to it, heading the ball in from a sharp angle to tie the match 2-2.
With nearly a half hour left to play and a game winning goal looming, neither team could find one before the final whistle. The Rowdies let off four more shots, putting just one on target that did not challenge Renan Ribeiro. Hartford's next best chance came in stoppage time when Anderson Asiedu caught Jordan Farr out of position in the box, but his shot went over the crossbar. After five added minutes, the final whistle blew and Hartford left the match with a point.
Athletic move to 12-13-8 and pickup their 44th point, keeping them in ninth place in the East. Their season will come down to Saturday's match at Orange County, kicking off at 10:00pm eastern time. The Green and Blue will need a win or a draw to get into the playoffs, along with favorable results from other playoff-hopeful teams in the Eastern Conference. A loss will eliminate them from playoff contention.
FAST STATS
Shots (On-Target): Hartford 7 (2) Tampa Bay 15 (4)
Corners: Hartford 2 Tampa Bay 5
Fouls: Hartford 13 Tampa Bay 23
Offsides: Hartford 2 Tampa Bay 0
Possession: Hartford 52.2% Tampa Bay 47.8%
Passing Accuracy: Hartford 81.4% Tampa Bay 81.6%
Saves: Hartford 2 Tampa Bay 0
SCORING SUMMARY
Hartford:
14 ¬Â² - Epps (Samadia)
45+5 ¬Â² Dieng (Ngalina)
Tampa Bay:
20 ¬Â² - Fernandes
64 ¬Â² - Jennings (Bodily)
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
Hartford:
34' - Scarlett (Yellow)
53' - Farrell (Yellow)
90' - Boudadi (Yellow)
Tampa Bay:
45+5' - Jennings (Yellow)
87' - Bender (Yellow)
HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP
40 (GK) Renan Ribeiro, 24 (DF) Michael DeShields (Boudadi, 62'); 4 (DF) Jordan Scarlett, 15 (DF) Joseph Farrell, 29 (MF) Emmanuel Samadia, 94 (MF) Marlon Hairston (Vancaeyezeele, 83'); 6 (MF) Beverly Makangila, FW (11) Michee Ngalina, 7 (FW) Marcus Epps, 10 (MF) Danny Barrera (Edwards, 74'), 33 (FW) Mamadou Dieng
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES STARTING LINEUP
1 (GK) Jordan Farr, 33 (DF) Aarón Guillén, 19 (DF) Freddy Kleemann, 22 (MF) Jordan Doherty, 11 (MF) Blake Bodily, 4 (MF) Lewis Hilton, 17 (MF) Danny Crisostomo, 20 (MF) Nick Moon (Munjoma, 58'); 98 (FW) Joshua Pérez (Arteaga, 65') 10 (MF) Leo Fernandes (Bender, 74'); 26 (FW) Cal Jennings (Rivera, 74')
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