HARTFORD CITY FC RALLY IN DRAMATIC FASHION TO ADVANCE TO CONFERENCE FINAL

Portland, Conn. – Trailing 2-0 in the 67^th minute of the 2024 NPSL North Atlantic Conference Playoff Semifinal and with Hartford City FC down to ten men, even the most resilient of squads would find that situation challenging to overcome.

But the Colts dug in deep on Wednesday night and found a way to grind out a result, getting goals from Larson Richards and Jake Williams inside the final ten minutes of normal time to send the match to extra time. Nate DiLoreto then came up with a heroic save from in the final round of the penalty kick shootout, allowing Andrew Bilbie to step up and slot home the winner to send Hartford City FC back to the Conference Final, advancing past New Jersey United AC 4-3 on penalties after the contest ended 2-2 after 120 minutes.

It was a blustery and humid evening at Oakwood Soccer Park and both teams had to resort to playing more directly due to the high winds, which limited the clear-cut chances over the first half hour of the match. And with both teams entering the postseason with excellent defensive records during the NPSL Regular Season, as Hartford City allowed eight goals in ten matches and New Jersey conceded nine, set pieces and moments of brilliance would be the difference makers on the night.

The visitors were able to build momentum over the final fifteen minutes of the first half by forcing Nate DiLoreto into making four saves during that stretch. From all that persistent pressure, the breakthrough for New Jersey United came right on the stroke of halftime when midfielder Sokol Ymeraj floated a free kick to the back post to be headed in by Eric Sadlocha.

The lead became 2-0 for New Jersey United in the 63^rd minute as Jeremy Klinger’s shot from inside the box struck the arm of HCFC defender Griffin Tomas to win a penalty kick for his team. And the pacy winger would dispatch the ensuing spot kick by powering it past DiLoreto.

The turning point of the match happened over a series of frenetic events in the 66^th minute when Evan Jones was first played through on goal by Parker Vasic. Jones slid his one-on-one effort past NJ United goalie Max Pfaffman, but was cleared off the line by Joseph Pinho. Then, Evan Southern collected the clearance just outside the area and rifled a shot that was destined for goal but struck a NJ United defender and popped straight up in the air to Hartford City’s Michael Gouvin, only to see Pfaffman hang onto his header.

But the Colts vehemently surrounded the referee claiming that Southern’s shot hit the NJ United defender’s arm and not the body. But the result of their protests would amount to the official showing three yellow cards for dissent, one to Jake Williams and two to Vasic, which put Hartford City a man down for the remaining 23 minutes of normal time.

The numerical disadvantage didn’t deter Hartford City as they kept pushing for the first tally by sending in a plethora of crosses and taking shots from distance. Some of which narrowly missed, others were propelled away by Pfaffman, who led the conference in the regular season with six shutouts. But in the final ten minutes, the Colts found another gear and eventually got the breakthrough tally.

Substitute Colin Goodhines was fouled just outside the box in the 81^st minute and allowed the Colts to send all the big targets forward. One of which was Larson Richards, who Jake Williams spotted him making a run to the back post and curled a free kick to that spot, and the veteran defender volleyed it home to pull Hartford City to within a goal.

Two minutes later, another Colts substitute would earn a free kick just outside the area as Michael Suski drove forward and got tripped up at the edge of the box. It was in a similar position where Jake Williams stepped up and delivered a stunning free kick to seal three points in a regular season win against New York. And on Wednesday night, the Colts’ captain delivered the goods once again as his set piece took a deflection on the way through and went in, tying the match at 2-2.

There would be no further goals in normal time, nor any tallies in the 30 minutes of extra time and the match went to penalties to determine who would advance to Saturday’s NPSL North Atlantic Conference Final to take on the top-seed New York Shockers.

Both teams scored their first two attempts, and in round three, New Jersey would jump ahead as Pfaffman saved Eamon Moylan’s spot kick after Maximus Barboto gave the visitors 3-2 advantage moments before. But, they failed to extend their lead when Khaled Daoud crashed his penalty off the crossbar, and Mark Grant tied it right after to send the penalty kick session to sudden death.

Colts’ keeper Nate DiLoreto would have his moment as he tipped Jamie Madrid’s penalty onto the crossbar and it stayed out, giving Andrew Bilbie the chance to deliver the final strike. To which he did, putting his effort past Pfaffman’s dive and ironically enough through the net, to power Hartford City to their second consecutive appearance in a Conference Championship game, and fourth total in organizational history.

Saturday’s North Atlantic Conference final will be held on Saturday, July 13^th at 7pm at Afrim’s Sports Park (969 Watervliet Shaker Road, Albany, NY, 12205), the home of the New York Shockers. Tickets are available now by visiting NewYorkShockers.com and a live stream of the match will be available as well on the New York Shockers YouTube channel.

The winner of Saturday’s match will represent the North Atlantic Conference in the East Region Tournament, which commences on Wednesday, July 17^th in a Semifinal matchup against the winner of Saturday’s Keystone West Conference Final between West Chester United SC and Electric City Shock SC.

July 13 at 1:22 pm