Hartford City FC

HARTFORD CITY ADVANCE IN POSTSEASON PLAY WITH A COMEBACK WIN OVER NEW YORK

Mansfield, Conn. – For the second time in three seasons, Hartford City FC has advanced to the NPSL North Atlantic Conference Playoff Final after defeating the New York Shockers, 2-1, in the Semifinals on Wednesday night at Eastern Connecticut State University.

The second-seeded Colts will now hit the road on Saturday to face the top-seed in the North Atlantic Conference Playoffs, Kingston Stockade FC, with not only the Conference Playoff title on the line, but also a spot in the East Region Playoffs.

After being outscored 9-1 across the three regular-season meetings between the sides, it was the third-seeded Shockers who created the first scoring chance of the night. From a short corner kick routine in the second minute, Seth Scarano flicked a ball into the path of teammate Benjamin Kogan but was denied from close range by Hartford City goalie Jamis Fite.

The Shockers took the lead in the 11th minute as Pedro Espindola dispossessed Hartford City’s Griffin Tomas at midfield, then drove down the right flank before crossing a ball into the box that was missed by Fite and directed off Filippo Bellù into the back of the net.

New York, who was the defending North Atlantic Tournament Champions and knocked off Hartford City in last year’s semifinals, proceeded to sit in defensively and absorb pressure from the Colts, only going forward on a rare counterattack.

This allowed Hartford City to expand their point of attack, often utilizing Evan Southern on the left wing to stretch the Shockers’ defense, with Tomas sitting in behind him, to either drive at defenders or whip in crosses. Despite earning several corners and set pieces in the first half, the Colts only had a few shots on target in the first half. Two of them came from midfielder Patrick Osiecki, both of which were saved by Shockers’ goalie Ryan Henning.

The hosts earned a lifeline ten minutes before halftime when the referee called a handball on New York’s Connor DeFilippis, after Southern was played in behind by Tomas and his cross struck the arm of the Shockers defender. Matt McGonigle stepped up to the spot and coolly dispatched the penalty kick past Henning to level the score.

That 1-1 score line would hold up through halftime but it didn’t take the Colts long into the second half to make more impact on the scoresheet.

From a throw-in in the 52nd minute, Henry Hamilton laid a ball off into the path of Osiecki, who proceeded to make a 25-yard run past five Shockers’ defenders before firing a shot past Henning to give Hartford City a 2-1 lead. It was the first goal of the season for the Naugatuck, Conn. native and would eventually prove to be the winning tally.

Almost immediately from the restart, the Shockers created their most threatening chance to equalize as Byron Stewart-Drysdale launched a ball over to the top to Anthony Rouse, who took it down and raced past the last Hartford City defender. But Fite came up with a crucial one-on-one stop well off his line to protect the hosts’ lead.

Understanding at the time that a one-goal advantage may not be enough on the night, Hartford City pressed for an insurance goal. They nearly got it in the 61st minute when Diego Zaffanella picked out Southern with a cross to the back post and Southern got a clean shot off from 12 yards out, only to see Henning parry the effort wide.

Over the remaining half hour, the Shockers kept piling on the pressure in their quest to keep their season alive but never forced a save out of Fite. The visitors’ final chance of the night came in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time when Adel Cekic floated in a free kick towards substitute Daniel Josepher, who got a great leap but couldn’t keep the headed effort on target, and the final whistle blew moments after.

— Writer Credit: JJ Duke

— Photo Credit: Phil Zolla

July 15 at 3:14 pm

HARTFORD CITY FALL SHORT IN A MIDWEEK TILT AT VALEO FC

Worcester, Mass. – In a tightly contested affair on Wednesday night, Hartford City FC (3-2-0, 9 points) came out on the wrong end of a 1-0 decision against Valeo FC (1-3-1, 4 points) at General Foley Stadium.

While the Colts maintained their second-place spot in the 2023 NPSL North Atlantic Conference standings despite the loss, Wednesday’s defeat was the second straight match that the club had dropped points after falling to Kingston Stockade FC 3-0 last Saturday.

It was a cagey first quarter of an hour, with the best chance from the two teams during this stretch came from Valeo’s Gabriel Padilla, as his strike from outside the box whistled by the near post in the 16^th minute. Hartford City thought they had opened the scoring in the 19^th minute when Griffin Tomas’ free kick from the right flank was headed home by Nick Hupe before he collided into Valeo’s goalie Marvyn Dorchin, but the referee whistled for a foul on the HCFC defender and negated the goal.

Those were the only two clear-cut scoring chances for either team during the first half but coming out of the halftime break, the hosts only needed a few minutes to break the deadlock. Valeo defender Abdul Barrie drilled a long ball from inside his own defensive third towards Padilla, who was able to beat a HCFC defender to the spot and then rounded Colts’ goalie Jamis Fite and slotted it away for the 1-0 lead.

Hartford City nearly leveled proceedings in the 59^th minute when Fite found Evan Southern down the left, who then played Christian Dionne in with a lovely through ball but his quick snap-shot was saved by the feet of Dorchin. The Colts’ journey to try and even the score took a turn for the worst three minutes after when Jake Williams saw his second yellow card after a late tackle, reducing HCFC to ten men.

Southern, after assisting on a pair of goals in the first meeting between the squads back on May 24^th, hit a well-struck free kick from 25 yards out in the 67^th minute, only to see Dorchin slide over to his near post to make the save. Moments later, Valeo nearly doubled their lead from a long-distance strike that just sailed over the crossbar.

HCFC were reduced to nine men in the 68^th minute when Hupe was sent off for a straight red card when Valeo had a two on one break and the Colts defender fouled a man right outside the penalty box. Despite playing the last 20-plus minutes of the match down two players, Hartford City kept pressing for the equalizer and nearly got it in the 80^th minute when Southern drove around the back line and was in on goal, only once again to be denied by Dorchin from point blank range. But that was the closest Hartford City would come to scoring for the remainder of the match.

The two teams will meet for the third and final time this season on Sunday, June 11^th at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford. Kickoff for that match is at 2pm, with tickets now available by searching Hartford City FC on Soccerstub.com. Sunday’s match will also be streamed on ElevenSports.com.

June 9 at 6:42 pm

COLTS LOOK TO BOUNCE BACK IN A DOUBLE-MATCH WEEK AGAINST VALEO FC

Hartford, Conn. – After dropping points for the first time in the 2023 NPSL season last weekend, Hartford City FC (3-1-0, 9 points) will play their double-match week this week, a true home-and-home week, against Valeo FC (0-3-1, 1 point). The Colts will travel to Valeo on Wednesday June 7^th at 7pm before hosting their Bay State rivals on Sunday, June 11^th at 2pm.

MATCH INFORMATION

Wednesday’s match at Valeo FC will be played at General Foley Stadium (305 Chandler Street, Worcester, MA, 01602). Please keep an eye to the Hartford City social media accounts for more information about the match.

Tickets for Sunday’s match at Trinity Health Stadium are available now by searching Hartford City FC on Soccerstub.com. General Admission tickets are $10 and Children aged 12 and under can get in for free.

If you can’t make Sunday’s home match, a free live stream will be provided at ElevenSports.com by searching Hartford City FC, or you can find the link on our social media platforms.

LAST TIME OUT

For the first time this season and in over two calendar years, Hartford City FC lost an NPSL Regular Season match as they fell to Kingston Stockade 3-0 this past Saturday evening up in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. It was the first time that the Colts hadn’t earned a result in a regular season match since May 22, 2021, a 1-0 loss to the New York Shockers. Saturday’s loss not only ended that 20-match unbeaten run but it also saw the Colts drop to second place in the North Atlantic Conference standings.

Kingston came out swinging early as they scored twice inside the first 25 minutes. Both goals came from Daniel D’Ippolito, with his first goal coming in the 11^th minute after being played in on a Jacob Shulman through ball and slotted it past HCFC goalie Jamis Fite. The second goal came in the 25^th minute from Hugo Guerra’s assist, and after the first half ended 2-0 to Stockade FC, the Fordham midfielder would go on to secure his hat-trick, his second of the season, in the 56^th minute.

ABOUT OUR OPPONENTS: VALEO FC

Valeo FC started their 2023 NPSL campaign with a three-match homestand and dropped all three of those games. One of those losses came at the hands of Hartford City, as the Colts got a pair second-half goals en route to a 2-0 victory. The goals came from each Matt McGonigle and Jake Williams and both were assisted by Evan Southern.

Valeo did pick up their first point of the season on Sunday with a 2-2 draw at Syracuse FC in a back-and-forth affair. After Syracuse scored the opening goal in the 36^th minute, Marcus Viera leveled the score in the 65^th minute from the penalty spot. Syracuse converted a penalty kick of their own in the 86^th minute, which they thought would be enough to earn them the win, but Valeo’s Taj Jensen scored in the 90^th minute to give the Massachusetts club a 2-2 draw. Valeo will be looking to sharpen up their defense as they’ve conceded a Conference-high 11 goals from four matches, and are one of just six teams in the entire East Region to have already allowed double-digit goals in the first half of the regular season.

June 6 at 11:28 pm