First half goals from Danny Barrera and Ariel Martínez were enough to get Hartford back in the win column on Saturday night, with a 2-1 final score from Trinity Health Stadium.
Hartford Athletic came out of the gate with some quality offensive play that quickly led to goals tonight. In the eighth minute, Prince Saydee took a touch with his left foot at the top of Indy’s box and blasted a shot that forced a quality save from Sean Lewis. Saydee was involved again just a minute later when he played a perfect ball to a streaking Juan Carlos Obregón Jr., who tried to beat Lewis to his right side, but the keeper made another quality save with his right foot. With the score still 0-0-, it was a promising opening for the Green and Blue, as they entered Indy’s final third 13 times and put two shots on target in the opening 15 minutes. Four minutes later, they were rewarded. Danny Barrera was given space a few yards out of Indy’s box and looped a sinking strike into the bottom right corner of the net, his second goal of the season. Hartford continued to apply pressure to the visiting side and struck again in the 26th minute. Saydee got loose in Indy’s third and delivered a crossfield pass to Ariel Martínez. The 36 year old took a touch into Indy’s box and pinged his shot off the right crossbar and by Lewis. It was a brilliant strike from the veteran for his second goal of the season.
After 45 minutes that were all Hartford, Indy was able to create momentum for themselves going into the locker room due to a stoppage time penalty kick. Robbie Dambrot received a pass into Hartford’s box and was tripped by Modou Jadama, drawing the penalty. Ayoze took the PK for Indy and delivered a goal just before the half, bringing the score to 2-1.
Indy Eleven came out of the locker room with better offensive pace, forcing Hartford to defend more frequently in the second half. In the 49th minute, Solomon Asante challenged Yannik Oettl with a well-struck shot from outside the box that the German keeper corralled. They would take eight more shots in the half, putting four of them on target. Another threatening opportunity came for the visitors in the 68th minute, when Raul Aguilera Jr. received a pass from Juan Tejada and forced Oettl to make another diving save.
Hartford had their best opportunity of the half in the 84th minute. Danny Barrera danced through two defenders in the Indy box and fired a shot that was saved by Lewis, but the rebound fell to the feet of second half sub Ash Apollon. The midfielder attempted to squeeze a shot through some white jerseys, but his shot was blocked.
Five minutes of stoppage time were added in the 90th, forcing the Green and Blue to stand tall for a long final effort from the visitors, and they did just that. They held Indy to just one shot in the five minute span and actually took two shots of their own, two open looks from Rashawn Dally that nearly added a third goal to Hartford’s night. The Green and Blue survived the stoppage time period, sealing the 2-1 victory.
Younes Boudadi and Luka Prpa both had strong performances in disrupting the Indy Eleven attack, as both of them recorded three interceptions. Yannik Oettl continued to be reliable in net, making five saves and only conceding the penalty kick from Indy.
Hartford Athletic are back at home again next Saturday, August 20th for a match against Miami FC at 7:00 PM.
FAST STATS
Shots (On-Target): Hartford 15 (7) Indy 16 (6)
Corners: Hartford 7 – Indy 3
Fouls: Hartford 16 – Indy 10
Offsides: Hartford 4 – Indy 1
Possession: Hartford 41.1% – Indy 58.9%
Passing Accuracy: Hartford 82.6% – Indy 85.8%
Saves: Hartford 5 – Indy 5
SCORING SUMMARY:
19′ – Barrera
26′ – Martinez (Saydee)
45′ – Ayoze
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY:
33′ – Dambrot (Yellow)
43′ – Hackshaw (Yellow)
53′ – Barrera (Yellow)
84′ – Rivera (Yellow)
HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP:
13 (GK) Yannik Oettl, 2 (DF) Younes Boudadi, 3 (DF) Logan Gdula, 4 (DF) Tulu, 23 (DF) Modou Jadama, 30 (DF) Joel Johnson (Apollon, 70′) 10 (MF) Danny Barrera 28 (MF), 11 (MF) Luka Prpa, 7 (FW) Prince Saydee, 6 (FW) Ariel Martinez (McGlynn, 66′); 9 (FW) Juan Carlos Obregon Jr. (Dally, 66′)
INDY ELEVEN STARTING LINEUP
99 (GK) Sean Lewis, 22 (DF) Robert Dambrot (Pinho, 58′); 2 (DF) Jesús Vázquez, 4 (DF) Mechack Jérôme, 5 (DF) Jared Timmer, 15 (MF) Neveal Hackshaw, 7 (MF) Ayoze García, 25 (MF) Bryam Rebellón (Ingram, 74′); 8 (MF) Raul Aguilera Jr., 17 (FW) Juan Tejada (Rivera, 74′); 14 (MF) Solomon Asante
