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USL Hartford Athletic

Saydee Scores Early and Rising Responds in Double, Hartford Loses 1-2

May 28, 2022 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Hartford Athletic News Release


The Green and Blue were the first ones on the board Saturday night, but it would not be enough to overcome a dangerous Phoenix team in their inaugural visit to Trinity Health Stadium.

Hartford Athletic hosted Phoenix Rising FC at Trinity Health Stadium for the first ever meeting between the two clubs. The Boys in Blue issued a warm welcome to their guests with offensive pressure from the opening kickoff. Hartford had 5 final third entries and 3 touches in the opponent's box in just the first 5 minutes of play. Despite Hartford pinning Phoenix in their third for the first minutes of play, Phoenix broke out and made Athletic's defense work when they fired off 2 shots in the 16' of play. The Green and Blue quickly made sure their 17-home game streak with a goal continued when Prince Saydee, who took all of Hartford's first 3 shots, found the back of the net for the first time this season in the 20'. Boudadi crossed the ball beautifully into the box, Hertzog faked a touch and Saydee finished to put Hartford up by a goal early.

Phoenix was not happy to be trailing though and became a new team after Saydee's goal. Rising took the next 7 shots of the game following Hartford's early tally, finally finding the back of the net when Kevon Lambert converted a header courtesy of a Luis Seijas pass to even up the game at 1 in the 35'. That was not all Phoenix had in mind, quickly following suit with a 37' goal from Greg Hurst inside the box. The two teams went back and forth to finish the first half, both tallying multiple shots, and after playing through a long 7 minutes of stoppage time they went into the locker rooms with Phoenix leading 2-1.

The task was tall for the Boys in Blue when the second half kicked off, as Phoenix had not lost any of their last 46 games when leading at the break. It was clear Hartford wanted to even the score quickly as they began the second 45 minutes of play akin to how they began the game: applying aggressive offensive pressure. Athletic had 3 shots in the first 5 minutes of second half play and outshot Rising 7-4 over the first 15 minutes of the half. Hartford continued their attack throughout the rest of the game, with a total of 38 touches in the opponents' box compared to Phoenix's 21. The Green and Blue's biggest chance to tie the game came in the 85', when Danny Barrera launched a corner kick and found Andre Lewis in the box. Lewis headed a laser that looked like it would even the score, but Rising Goalkeeper Ben Lundt soared into the air and miraculously punched the ball out of harm's way. Athletic far surpassed their season shots per game of 10.6 with a whopping 19 tonight. However, in lieu of one of the team's best offensive efforts this year, they fell just short by a score of 1-2.

Hartford Athletic will go on the road next Saturday, June 4th, to face El Paso Locomotive FC at 9:30 PM.

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