Saturday marked a momentous day for CT United as the club took the field at the University of Connecticut’s Morrone Stadium, welcoming Columbus Crew 2 in CT’s inaugural home match.
Saturday’s home opener came after CT opened its inaugural season with four straight road games, which saw CT secure an even 2-2-0 record after securing wins over FC Cincinnati 2 and Philadelphia Union II, and losses to fellow independent side Chattanooga FC and regional rival New England Revolution II.
Head Coach Shavar Thomas made one change from the lineup that suffered a 2-0 loss to Revs II on March 22. Anthony Ramos got the start in goal behind the backline of Andre Applewhaite, Jahvar Stephenson, Lukas Kamrath, and Rickson van Hees. Robbie Mora, Steven Sserwadda, and Ernesto Gómez formed the midfield three behind the attacking trio of Laurie Goddard, Alex Monis, and Barnabás Tanyi.
Opening day festivities soured in the 17th minute when a quick counterattack led to Columbus booting a ball downfield with a darting Kevin Gbamblé in chase. Gbamblé got on the ball and drove at goal before cutting the ball to former Vermint Green FC captain Zachary Zengue. After pumping the brakes, Zengue curved the ball around Rickson van Hees and evaded the reach of Anthony Ramos to give the away side an early 1-0 lead.
After bagging a goal in the 17th minute, Zengue doubled his tally on the day in the 40th minute when a series of passes led to Gbamblé again slotting a ball to Zengue as he curled a high arching shot over Ramos and in to give Columbus a 2-0 lead.
Columbus’ Quinton Elliot entered the book in first-half stoppage time as he received a yellow card following his foul on Monis just outside the box. After being on the receiving end of Elliot’s foul, Monis looked to shorten the deficit as he stood over the free kick. Despite sending his initial attempt straight into Columbus’ wall, Monis got onto the deflected ball and slotted the ball to the left side of the net to notch the first home goal in CT United FC history while drawing one back just before halftime.
Connecticut found a lifeline back into the game in the 52nd minute when Gómez was brought down inside the box by Elliot, which led to the referee pointing to the spot and awarding CT a penalty kick. Tanyi stepped to the spot and looked to level things in the home opener. He attempted to send a right-footed shot centrally, but Keller Abbot dove the correct way and got his hands to it as Columbus’ lead remained.
Connecticut’s first change of the evening came in the 57th minute as Daniel D’Ippolito replaced Gómez. Three more changes came in the 77th minute as Cauã Paixão, Richard Hauth, and Reyniel Perdomo replaced Tanyi, Stephenson, and Rickson van Hees.
Oneal Taylor hammered the final nail in CT United’s coffin in the 81st minute after a quick build-up out the back led Columbus working the ball upfield to Taylor. After some fancy footwork, Taylor broke away from his defender and curled a shot to the upper-left corner and in to give Columbus a 3-1 lead and the eventual victory.
Thomas and CT United will look to end a two-game skid on April 19th when they travel to Belson Stadium to face New York City FC II at 4 PM ET.
