A FIRST HALF FLURRY OF GOALS LIFTS HARTFORD CITY TO THREE POINTS

Hartford, Conn. – Two goals in the first fifteen minutes and three in the first half hour were enough to power Hartford City FC (2-0-1, 7 points) to a 3-2 win over their long-time rivals Kingston Stockade FC (0-2-1, 1 point) on Saturday night at Trinity Health Stadium. The result keeps the Colts at the top of the NPSL North Atlantic Conference Standings after three rounds of action, along with the New York Shockers who defeated Valeo FC late Saturday evening.

In what was a frenetic first 45 minutes of the match, the Colts set the tone in the 6^th minute with a display of one of the best team-oriented goals the club has seen in recent years. From playing out of the back, right-back Patrick Osiecki threaded a pass down the left flank and connected with Alonzo Clarke. Clarke, who was one of four players making their season debut for Hartford City on Saturday night, was able to bypass multiple defenders before linking up with forward Evan Jones. The Holy Cross product pulled off a nifty back-heeled pass inside the box to return it to Clarke, who then found Parker Vasic off to his left. Vasic, not to be outdone by Jones’ backheel, executed a similar pass to unlock Evan Southern and allow the 2023 NPSL All-Region honoree to finish off the sequence by sweeping a shot past Kingston’s goalie Lorenzo Nunez for the opening tally.

Six minutes later, the hosts nearly doubled their advantage when Southern’s in-swinging corner kick was headed on goal by Clarke only to see it cleared off the line by a Kingston defender at the near post. That chance was the one to wake up the visitors as moments after clearing that chance away, a long free kick from Jared Juleau found Hugo Guerra outside the box. But as Guerra’s touch took it away from a Hartford City’s Griffin Tomas, the two tangled just inside box which on another day would have seen the official point to the spot but in this instance, the referee allowed play to continue.

And the no-call would be a misery compiler for Kingston as while their bench was up in arms about the decision, Andrew Bilbie, another player making his HCFC debut, drove through the defense and ripped a shot from close distance. Nunez was able to block the shot away, but Vasic powered home the rebound from the edge of the area to double the hosts’ advantage.

Kingston Stockade were able to pull a goal back shortly before the half hour mark as Jonathan Salguero was able to get free down the left side of the field and floated a ball to the back post that caught Hartford City’s goalie Jamis Fite off guard and snuck in the top-corner. But if the visitors expected that tally to give them any momentum, it was taken away almost immediately. Forty seconds after the re-start, Hartford City made it 3-1 as Tomas curled in a cross from the right flank to the six-yard box and Jones hammered a header past Nunez for his first goal of the season.

Neither team would find the back of the net over the final 15 minutes of the first half, though Fite did come up with a couple of key stops including snagging Joey Dolan’s 25-yard free kick minutes before halftime. But Kingston Stockade got a lifeline just four minutes as Juleau was clipped from behind by Clarke inside the penalty area and the referee awarded the visitors a penalty. Guerra, who scored a penalty kick while playing for Hartford City FC in the clubs’ 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup First Round Match against Lansdowne Yonkers FC, calmly deposited the spot kick past Fite to make it 3-2.

Unlike the first half, the second half was void of many clear-cut chances as Hartford City only generated two shots on target, though the Colts nearly extended their lead back to two in the 72^nd minute when second half substitute Mark Grant was able to drive end line before cutting a ball back to Southern, only to see his close-range chance parried away by Nunez.

But the Colts defense stymied the visitors over the remaining minutes and didn’t need to call on Fite to make any more stops on the evening. Eventually the final whistle blew and Hartford City earned their second straight victory at home this season, extending their unbeaten mark at home in all competitions to five straight games.

Hartford City head back on the road next Saturday as they travel to the Valeo Sports Center in Newton, Mass. to take on Valeo FC. Kickoff for that match is scheduled for 6pm and HCFC fans are encouraged to stay tuned to the clubs’ social media channels for more information about this contest in the coming days.

May 20 at 11:32 am