Despite a strong effort from Hartford in defense, the offense fell short and on Friday the 13th, an unfortunate bounce – of all things – set up Tampa Bay for the game's only goal and a 1-0 win for the home side.
A scoreless first half saw Tampa Bay draw the majority of the chances and possession. The Rowdies held just over 60% of possession and generated twelve shots to Hartford's one. But just like the last matchup between these two sides a month ago, Hartford's back line blocked shots and safely cleared balls that came into the box to keep Tampa Bay off the scoreboard. Hartford tried to generate offense by playing balls over the top to Juan Carlos Obregón Jr. but were only able to muster 3 unsuccessful corner kicks in the opening stanza.
Jeff Caldwell, tonight's Man of the Match, continued a stellar run of play denying shot after shot in the second half. Caldwell finished the night with 5 saves. But the one that got past him proved to be the difference. In the 85th minute, Arthur Rogers chased down a ball that was surely headed out for another Rowdies corner. His attempt to clear the ball ricocheted off of a Tampa attacker, and ended up in play. Rowdies Forward Jordan Adebayo Smith corralled the loose ball in the box, fired a shot that was blocked, gathered the rebound and slotted it past a diving Caldwell for the only goal of the evening.
Hartford has now lost back-to-back games for the first time all season, but there's no rest for the weary. The Boys in Green will be back at Dillon on Tuesday night when they host Charleston Battery at 7 PM. Tickets are available for purchase at https://www.hartfordathletic.com/single.
FAST STATS:
Shots (On-Target): Hartford 2 (0) – 22 (6) Tampa Bay
Corners: Hartford 4-10 Tampa Bay
Fouls: Hartford 15-10 Tampa Bay
Offsides: Hartford 0-1 Tampa Bay
Possession: Hartford 44.8%-55.2% Tampa Bay
Passing Accuracy: Hartford 75.8%-83.4% Tampa Bay
Saves: Hartford 5-0 Tampa Bay
SCORING SUMMARY:
85' – Jordan Adebayo-Smith 0-1
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY:
31' – Alex Lara (Yellow)
78' – Conor McGlynn (Yellow)
HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP:
13 (GK) Jeff Caldwell; 3 (DF) Younes Boudadi, 2 (DF) Alex Lara (Nicolás Cardona, 45'), 15 (DF) Tulu, 20 (DF) Thomas Janjigian, 16 (DF) Gabriel Torres (Conor McGlynn, 61'); 5 (MF) Nii Armah Ashitey, 10 (MF) Danny Barrera; 18 (FW) Walmer Martinez (Jeciel Cedeño, 70'), 9 (FW) Sebastian Elney (Arthur Rogers, 45'), 29 (FW) Juan Carlos Obregón Jr. (Bradford Jamieson IV, 71')
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES STARTING LINEUP:
1 (GK) Evan Louro; 5 (DF) Jordan Scarlett, 3 (DF) Forrest Lasso, 33 (DF) Aaron Guillen; 2 (MF) Connor Antley (Juan Tejada, 83'), 4 (MF) Lewis Hilton, 27 (MF) Laurence Wyke, 16 (MF) Max Lachowecki (Sebastian Dalgaard, 56'); 10 (FW) Steevan Dos Santos (Lucky Mkosana, 56'), 7 (FW) Yan Ekra (Jordan Adebayo Smith, 72'), 13 (FW) Sebastian Guenzatti (Matthew Srbely, 72')
Despite a strong effort from Hartford in defense, the offense fell short and on Friday the 13th, an unfortunate bounce – of all things – set up Tampa Bay for the game’s only goal and a 1-0 win for the home side.
A scoreless first half saw Tampa Bay draw the majority of the chances and possession. The Rowdies held just over 60% of possession and generated twelve shots to Hartford’s one. But just like the last matchup between these two sides a month ago, Hartford’s back line blocked shots and safely cleared balls that came into the box to keep Tampa Bay off the scoreboard. Hartford tried to generate offense by playing balls over the top to Juan Carlos Obregón Jr. but were only able to muster 3 unsuccessful corner kicks in the opening stanza.
Jeff Caldwell, tonight’s Man of the Match, continued a stellar run of play denying shot after shot in the second half. Caldwell finished the night with 5 saves. But the one that got past him proved to be the difference. In the 85th minute, Arthur Rogers chased down a ball that was surely headed out for another Rowdies corner. His attempt to clear the ball ricocheted off of a Tampa attacker, and ended up in play. Rowdies Forward Jordan Adebayo Smith corralled the loose ball in the box, fired a shot that was blocked, gathered the rebound and slotted it past a diving Caldwell for the only goal of the evening.
Hartford has now lost back-to-back games for the first time all season, but there’s no rest for the weary. The Boys in Green will be back at Dillon on Tuesday night when they host Charleston Battery at 7 PM. Tickets are available for purchase at https://www.hartfordathletic.com/single.
FAST STATS:
Shots (On-Target): Hartford 2 (0) – 22 (6) Tampa Bay
Corners: Hartford 4-10 Tampa Bay
Fouls: Hartford 15-10 Tampa Bay
Offsides: Hartford 0-1 Tampa Bay
Possession: Hartford 44.8%-55.2% Tampa Bay
Passing Accuracy: Hartford 75.8%-83.4% Tampa Bay
Saves: Hartford 5-0 Tampa Bay
SCORING SUMMARY:
85′ – Jordan Adebayo-Smith 0-1
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY:
31′ – Alex Lara (Yellow)
78′ – Conor McGlynn (Yellow)
HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP:
13 (GK) Jeff Caldwell; 3 (DF) Younes Boudadi, 2 (DF) Alex Lara (Nicolás Cardona, 45′), 15 (DF) Tulu, 20 (DF) Thomas Janjigian, 16 (DF) Gabriel Torres (Conor McGlynn, 61′); 5 (MF) Nii Armah Ashitey, 10 (MF) Danny Barrera; 18 (FW) Walmer Martinez (Jeciel Cedeño, 70′), 9 (FW) Sebastian Elney (Arthur Rogers, 45′), 29 (FW) Juan Carlos Obregón Jr. (Bradford Jamieson IV, 71′)
TAMPA BAY ROWDIES STARTING LINEUP:
1 (GK) Evan Louro; 5 (DF) Jordan Scarlett, 3 (DF) Forrest Lasso, 33 (DF) Aaron Guillen; 2 (MF) Connor Antley (Juan Tejada, 83′), 4 (MF) Lewis Hilton, 27 (MF) Laurence Wyke, 16 (MF) Max Lachowecki (Sebastian Dalgaard, 56′); 10 (FW) Steevan Dos Santos (Lucky Mkosana, 56′), 7 (FW) Yan Ekra (Jordan Adebayo Smith, 72′), 13 (FW) Sebastian Guenzatti (Matthew Srbely, 72′)
