(FOXBOROUGH, Mass) – Hartford Athletic delivered a solid performance but fell short in Saturday’s preseason friendly, conceding two set piece goals en route to a hard fought 2-0 defeat to MLS side New England Revolution.
New England challenged Hartford’s new-look back line early as they controlled possession for the majority of the first 20 minutes of the match. Emmanuel Samadia, Captain Jordan Scarlett, Adrian Diz Pe, and Sebastian Anderson, from left to right, showed strong athleticism and fortitude throughout the match. Each of the back four contributed valuable defensive stops, preventing an array of attacks from the Revolution.
Newcomer Adrian Diz Pe quickly asserted himself as an anchor at right center back, displaying his defensive prowess early in the contest. In the second minute, an early push into the Hartford 18 was smothered by the imposing Diz Pe. Moments later, in the fourth minute, he threw his body in front of a right-footed strike from New England’s Will Sands, keeping the game scoreless. Of the six corners that the Revolution took in the first half, Diz Pe was responsible for heading three (50%) of them out of the zone. Sebastian Anderson also contributed a clutch defensive stop, getting a foot on a cross into the box and thwarting a prime offensive opportunity for New England in the sixth minute.
The Revolution’s next offensive push came in the 14th minute, when Leo Campana took a strike from just outside the box. An exquisite full-extension save from the Hartford keeper saved a goal from the left post, leading to two consecutive corner kicks and a cross into the box, deflected in order by Diz Pe, Ngalina, and Scarlett.
The next few minutes saw back-and-forth play from both sides, with fouls conceded by each squad and a clean defensive stop from Anderson in the 25th. Play continued until the 33rd, when New England’s Alhassan Yusuf attempted a sliding tackle on Mamadou Dieng. Catching more leg than ball, Yusuf was awarded a yellow card as both players remained on the ground from the collision. Both were able to continue in the match.
The 35th minute saw Hartford’s first true attacking attempt, beginning with Deshane Beckford taking a run with the ball down the left line. The Green & Blue put together an articulate string of passes around the perimeter of the box, a promising attempt before Revs intercepted a pass and spoiled the advance.
New England quickly transitioned the turnover into an offensive opportunity, constructing a set of tic-tac-toe passes that could have been dangerous had the attempt not been called offsides. The Revolution continued their pressure, setting a cross in the 39th minute that would’ve led to a wide-open shot, had it not been for Scarlett executing a sliding tackle right at the 6-yard line that sent the ball out of play.
The Revolution converted the corner kick for their first goal of the match, from the foot of Yule in the left corner and off the head of Campana, directly into the bottom right corner of the net in the 40th minute.
Wearing the captain’s band, Jordan Scarlett showed no sign of off-season slug, providing a slew of defensive stops. His most impressive came at the 42nd minute, sliding to deflect a shot that was inches away from crossing the goal line. “The guys around me give me confidence,” said Scarlett post-game. “We’ve been focusing on the attention to detail and you can see the chemistry from last year carrying over.” When asked about how the returning defenders fit in with the new faces, his confident response said it all: “We’re learning what each other does and that’s coming together really well.”
Athletic pushed one more first-half offensive attack in the 44th minute, as a cross from Samadia on the left side found Dieng for a header, which sailed just left of the goal. Anderson was shown a yellow for a tackle in the first of two stoppage time minutes, before Hartford entered the locker room at halftime down a goal.
The halftime speech delivered by Brendan Burke in the locker room sparked the squad, as the Green & Blue came out to the pitch refreshed and re-energized in the second half. “That 20 minutes out of half time is what I want us to look like all year,” said Burke after the match. “We looked much more like ourselves after we made some adjustments coming out of the half, we were starting to look dangerous.”
The passing game transformed into a display of crisp ball movement and offensive attacks became collaborative. Hartford saw opportunities unfold throughout the second half, the result of a cohesive attacking unit and improved intentionality.
The squad wasted no time pushing the ball forward, as Dieng took a shot in the 46th minute, which was blocked by New England’s Mamadou Fofana. The Revolution turned the stop into an opportunity, where a diving save by the Hartford keeper and a clearance from Scarlett prevented the push, resulting in a corner kick.
Marlon Hairston made a run in the 68th minute, drawing a foul which led to a yellow card for Fofana. The free kick, taken inside of the penalty arc by Anderson, was shot into a sea of blue Revolution jerseys and was deflected back to midfield.
In the 71st minute, Burke subbed out the entire starting 11 for a set of new bodies, including a number of trialists and reserve team players. Of the fresh bodies, goalkeeper Justin DiCarlo stood out, crafting a trio of splendid saves, each on shots taken from the goal box. The saves, at the 78th, 82nd, and 86th minutes, all came from point-blank range and kept the Revolution at one goal.
Joe Farrell also displayed his leadership, spoiling a cross into the box in the 79th minute, followed by heading away a corner taken in the 81st.
In the 86th minute, Pele Ousmanu conceded a foul inside of the penalty arc, setting up a free kick for the Revolution. Shooting over a wall of green, the Revolution buried the free kick in the top right corner of the net, doubling their lead to 2-0 in the 87th.
The whistle was blown after two minutes of stoppage time, finalizing a score of 2-0. When asked his thoughts after the game, Burke shared excitement for the promise that the squad showed, and highlighted areas for improvement. “I thought that was the perfect test for us. There’s absolutely stuff we have to tighten up, the transition moments aren’t clean yet, and that’s where we can be really deadly. I was really happy with our first 11 and the way they came out of halftime, and I was really proud of the way they defended in the first half.”
Hartford Athletic’s season begins with an away match on March 8th, when the Green & Blue will travel to Lexington SC for a 7pm match. The home opener will take place on March 29th as the Athletic host El Paso Locomotive FC. Kickoff is set for 2pm.
