On a cold and rainy night at Trinity Health Stadium, Hartford Athletic earned a point with a 0-0 draw against Indy Eleven.
Hartford and Indy went punch-for-punch with each other in an evenly-played first half, sharing chances to strike first. The two squads took five shots through the first 35 minutes, putting one on target apiece. Michee Ngalina threatened in Indy’s box just three minutes into the match, forcing a save at the near post from Hunter Sulte. 15 minutes later, Jordan Scarlett got his body in front of a shot inside the box from Maalique Foster.
The visitors had the most dangerous opportunity of the half, when Foster forced a quality kick save from Renan Ribeiro in the 38th minute. The striker bursted through Hartford’s third in transition, leaving him one-on-one with Ribeiro on the right side of the box. Charging off his line, Ribeiro extended his right foot to deny the open look on goal and keep Hartford level. Indy took two more shots that didn’t challenge Ribeiro, and the teams took to the locker rooms knotted at 0-0.
The Green and Blue took more control over the match in the second half, stabilizing the Indy attack and holding them for thirty minutes without a shot. Athletic generated the first scoring opportunity of the half in the 60th minute, when Kyle Edwards headed Danny Barrera’s corner delivery just over the crossbar. Nine minutes later, Edwards put another header from Barrera just wide.Â
The teams remained deadlocked as the match reached stoppage time, and Michael Deshields came up with a potentially point-saving defensive play on the final action of the match. Maalique Foster chased down a lead ball into Hartford’s third, and cut into the box with defenders on his back. Just before Foster could get a shot off, Deshields swooped in to take the ball right off his foot. The final whistle blew less than a minute later, solidifying the 0-0 final.Â
Danny Barrera created three chances for Hartford off the bench, and Kyle Edwards took five shots. Renan Ribeiro finished the night with two saves and four clearances.
The draw gives Hartford their 30th point of the season, and moves them to 8-12-6. Hartford will play two road matches next week, at Memphis 901 FC on Wednesday, September 11th, and at Miami FC on Saturday, September 14th. They’ll return home on Saturday, September 21st against Oakland Roots SC at 7:00 PM. Tickets are available at hartfordathletic.com/tickets.
FAST STATS
Shots (On-Target): Hartford 9 (1) Indy 11 (2)
Corners: Hartford 7 Indy 5
Fouls: Hartford 7 Indy 13
Offsides: Hartford 3 Indy 2
Possession: Hartford 57.4% Indy 42.6%
Passing Accuracy: Hartford 82% Indy 81.4%
Saves: Hartford 2 Indy 1
SCORING SUMMARY
Indy: None
Hartford:Â None
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
Indy:
59’ – Blake (Yellow)
73’ – Hayden White (Yellow)
Hartford:Â None
HARTFORD ATHLETIC STARTING LINEUP
40 (GK) Renan Ribeiro, 24 (DF) Michael DeShields, 4 (DF) Jordan Scarlett, 15 (DF) Joseph Farrell, 2 (DF) Younes Boudadi (Toure, 83); 94 (MF) Marlon Hairston, 6 (MF) Beverly Makangila, 11 (FW) Michee Ngalina (Barrera, 27’); 7 (FW) Marcus Epps, 17 (FW) Kyle Edwards, 33 (FW) Mamadou Dieng
INDY ELEVEN STARTING LINEUP
99 (GK) Hunter Sulte, 15 (DF) Adrián Diz, 33 (DF) Hayden White, 30 (DF) Ben Ofeimu, 3 (DF) Aedan Stanley, 8 (MF) Jack Blake (Collier, 67’); 32 (DF) Brem Soumaoro, 14 (MF) Aodhan Quinn (Lindley, 67’); 20 (FW) Ben Mines, 99 (FW) Maalique Foster, Romario Williams (Guenzatti, 83’)
