Sports stats



USL Hartford Athletic

Hartford Fall 4-3 After Charleston's Stoppage Time Winner

June 17, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Hartford Athletic News Release


Down a man for the majority of the second half, Hartford Athletic couldn't hold onto their lead. Two late-game goals from the Battery burned the home side 4-3.

Hartford Athletic struck first in tonight's match. After getting deep into Charleston's third up the left flank, Antoine Hoppenot looped a cross into the box. The ball deflected off Charleston's Deklan Wynne and fell to Andre Lewis, who pinged his shot off the right post and in to give Hartford a 1-0 lead.

Charleston responded well, getting into Hartford's box and forcing a quality save from Joe Rice on a Nick Markanich shot in the 40th minute. Three minutes later after a free kick was given to the visitors a few yards outside the box, Markanich found the back of the net. The Charleston forward struck his shot perfectly with his left foot and beat Joe Rice to the top right of the net, hitting the ball off the crossbar and down across the goal line.

Hartford had one more goal left in them before the half, regaining the lead in the second and final minute of stoppage time. Antoine Hoppenot was involved again, playing a ball forward into the box for Edgardo Rito. The wingback played the ball off one bounce and banged a shot off the crossbar and down in front of the goal line, where Kyle Edwards headed the rebound into the open net. A strong finish to the half for Hartford, they went into the locker room up 2-1.

The half got off to a negative start for Hartford, as Antoine Hoppenot was given his second yellow card and subsequent red card just two minutes in. Hartford were now tasked with the challenge of keeping Charleston off the board while down a man and only up a goal. Relentlessly, Hartford continued to play the ball forward with 10 men and drew a penalty when Luke Merrill was tackled in Charleston's box. Edwards took the try, and buried his shot confidently into the bottom right corner for his second goal of the night and sixth of the season. Hartford had extended their lead to two goals just nine minutes after going down a man, just their third two-goal lead in USL Championship play this season.

The Battery answered yet again when Nick Markanich struck for a second time in the 64th minute. Donte Polvara received the ball in the box off a short corner and laid it off to Markanich at the top of the box, who roofed his shot to the top of the net. A goal for each team in the opening 20 minutes of the half, Hartford still held the lead 3-2.

The Green and Blue were able to stave off the Charleston attack for the following 23 minutes, surrendering just three shots that were all off target, but could not hold on in the later stages. Two Charleston goals scored just three minutes apart from the 87th minute to the 90th minute buried Hartford. First, Arturo Rodriguez looped a cross into the box that forced Joe Rice back towards the goal line. He blocked the cross down, but it fell to Derek Dodson and the former Hartford Athletic forward fired his shot into the open net, tying the game at 3-3. Three minutes later, Arthur Paterson put a dagger through Hartford. The Charleston captain was given space in outside of Hartford's box and launched his shot off the left post and in, giving the Battery a 4-3 lead. They would hold on to win the match.

Robin Lapert made his way back into the starting lineup tonight and made his presence known. He won 10 duels from his left back position, three more than the next closest (Luke Merrill).

The Battery won 14 corners to Athletic's zero and out possessed the home team 72% to 28%. Hartford Athletic play at home again next Saturday against Indy Eleven. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM.

FAST STATS

Shots (On-Target): Hartford 5 (3) Charleston 21 (5)

Corners: Hartford 0 Charleston 14

Fouls: Hartford 16 Charleston 6

Offsides: Hartford 6 Charleston 2

Possession: Hartford 27.9% Charleston 72.1%

Passing Accuracy: Hartford 63.1% Charleston 86.7%

Saves: Hartford 1 Charleston 0

SCORING SUMMARY:

31' - Lewis

43' - Markanich

45 + 2' - Edwards

57' - Edwards (PK)

64' - Markanich (Polvara)

87' - Dodson

90 + 5' - Paterson

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY:

20' - Markinach (Yellow)

34' - Hoppenot (Yellow)

36' - McGlynn (Yellow)

37' - Hartford Bench (Yellow)

48' - Hoppenot (Second Yellow)

62' - Allan (Yellow)

89' - Rito (Yellow)

90 + 5' - Lapert (Yellow)

HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP:

13 (GK) Joe Rice, 3 (DF) Kaveh Rad, 16 (DF) Matt Sheldon, 22 (DF) Robin Lapert, 72 (DF), 8 (MF) Juan Pablo Torres (Makangila, 74'); 28 (MF) Conor McGlynn, 77 (MF) Andre Lewis, 17 (FW) Kyle Edwards (Saydee, 74'); 29 (FW) Antoine Hoppenot, 9 (FW) Elvis Amoh (Merrill, 52')

CHARLESTON BATTERY STARTING LINEUP:

25 (GK) Trey Muse, 28 (DF) Deklan Wynne, 20 (DF) AJ Paterson, 14 (DF), Derek Dodson, 4 (MF) Chris Allan (Trager, 74'); 12 (MF) Arturo Rodriguez, 6 (MF) Donte Polvera, 19 (MF) Robbie Crawford, 13 (FW) Nick Markanich (Booth, 90+4'); 69 (FW) Roberto Avila (Schmidt, 90+3'); 11 (FW) Fidel Barajas (Apodaca 90+5')

Check out the Hartford Athletic Statistics



United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 17, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central