A successful penalty kick from Romario Williams in the first half of tonight’s match proved to be enough for Hartford Athletic, as they held a clean sheet the rest of the way to beat El Paso 1-0 in their season opener.
Williams drew the penalty himself in the 13th minute, taking contact in the box from El Paso’s Bolu Akinyode after chasing down a well-placed ball by Jay Chapman from midfield into the box. Williams calmly buried his try into the bottom right corner of the net, beating El Paso goalkeeper Jahmali Waite and giving Hartford a 1-0 lead.
The Green and Blue nearly doubled their lead just moments later in the 15th minute. Williams was involved again, feeding a cross from the left flank to the six yard box for Michee Ngalina, whose shot went just above the crossbar.
El Paso’s Miles Lyons, Lucas Stauffer, and Amando Moreno fired off shots over the next 15 minutes in response to Hartford’s early attack, but only Stauffer’s was on target and it did not challenge Paul Walters in goal. Ngalina continued to knock on El Paso’s door on the other end of the pitch, and came inches away from extending Hartford’s lead. In the 44th minute, the winger received a long ball from Marcus Epps at the top right corner of the box. He faked to his right, then turned to his left and fired a shot that tipped off the hands of Waite and then off the left post. Still in pursuit, Ngalina received another pass from Epps and struck a shot from the opposite side of the box, forcing a diving save from Waite. A quality effort from Ngalina made El Paso’s back line bend, but the score stayed 1-0.Â
Locomotive FC had the final action of the half on a corner kick, and it was their best scoring chance of the opening 45 minutes. Tumi Moshobane looped the ball into the box, and Tony Alfaro squared his header a few feet over the crossbar. The score remained 1-0 with Hartford in the lead after four minutes of stoppage time.
The home side came out on the front foot in the second half, owning 66% of the possession through the first 15 minutes and taking the first three shots. Justin Dhillon found the back of the net off a feed from Amando Morena in the 58th minute, but the goal was called off due to Morena being offside.
Neither team created another scoring threat until the 75th minute, when a near connection between Ngalina and Williams forced more work from Waite in goal. Ngalina delivered the ball into the box that Waite dove for and deflected with his left hand, deflecting it just out of reach of Willams at the far post. With Waite off his line, the deflected ball rolled to Enoch Mushagalusa at the right side of the box, but his shot on the open net was blocked and cleared away by Akinyode.
Hartford continued to defend for the rest of the half, handling five El Paso shots to maintain the lead. Ricardo ZacarĂas had an opportunity from inside the box in the 79th minute, but Rece Buckmaster did well to partially block his shot to create an easy save for Walters. Six minutes later, ZacarĂas received a pass from Nick Hinds right in front of the goal, but his shot flew well above the crossbar.
El Paso had one free kick and one corner kick during the five minutes of stoppage time, but the Hartford back line remained strong and made both chances uneventful. The final whistle blew in the 96th minute, solidifying a 1-0 road victory for the Green and Blue.
Thomas Vancaeyezeele led the defensive effort from Hartford, booting six clearances and swiping five interceptions. Paul Walters made his USL Championship debut in goal for Athletic tonight, having signed with the Club on loan from FC Cincinnati yesterday. The 19 year old was up to the task, making three saves and earning a clean sheet. Offensively, Ngalina’s active night included four shots, one that hit the post, and five touches inside the box. Romario Williams picked up right where he left off after a 15-goal campaign a season ago, netting the deciding goal with his successful penalty kick in the 13th minute.
Hartford Athletic start the 2024 season 1-0, and the Club improves to 3-3 in season openers all-time. Their next match is their home opener on March 23rd at Trinity Health Stadium against Birmingham Legion FC. Kickoff is set for 2:00pm.
FAST STATS
Shots (On-Target): Hartford 9 (4) El Paso 15 (3)
Corners: Hartford 3 El Paso 7
Fouls: Hartford 18 El Paso 16
Offsides: Hartford 1 El Paso 2
Possession: Hartford 35.6% El Paso 64.4%
Passing Accuracy: Hartford El 67.3% Paso 81.8%
Saves: Hartford 3 El Paso 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
Hartford: 13’ – Williams (penalty kick)
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY:
El Paso:
30’ Rose (Yellow)
90+1’ – Calvillo (Yellow)
Hartford:
41’ – Hodge (Yellow)
63’ – Williams (Yellow
86’ – Vancaeyezeele (Yellow)
90+3’ – Makangila (Yellow)
HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP
25 (GK) Paul Walters, 5 (DF) Triston Hodge, 23 (DF) Thomas Vancaeyezeele, 15 (DF) Joseph Farrell, 19 (DF) Rece Buckmaster (Akpunonu 82’); 8 (MF) Jay Chapman, 12 (MF) Anderson Asiedu, 11 (FW) Michee Ngalina, 7 (FW) Marcus Epps (Mushagalusa, 74’); 31 (FW) Deshane Beckford (Makangila, 68’); 9 (FW) Romario Williams
EL PASO LOCOMOTIVE FC STARTING LINEUP
23 (GK) Jahmali Waite, 4 (DF) Lucas Stauffer, 93 (DF) Tony Alfaro, 2 (DF) Brandan Craig, 16 (DF) Miles Lyons (Hinds, 65’); DF (21) Bolu Akinyode, MF (6) Eric Calvillo, 22 (MF) Liam Rose, 10 (MF) Amando Moreno (ZacarĂas, 74’); 18 (FW) Tumi Moshobane (Basuljevic, 74’); FW (9) Justin Dhillon
