Hartford Athletic vaulted into contention in Group 5 with a 2-0 win over Brooklyn FC at Maimonides Park on Saturday night. With Portland Hearts of Pine’s victory over RIFC earlier in the day, the Latics sit second in the group, trailing Portland only due to goals scored.

It was something of a smash-and-grab job, with Hartford winning 2-0 despite being outshot 15-4 on the night, and Brooklyn having more than three times as many touches in the opposition box. Before the game, Brendan Burke had said he thought it might trend the same way as the second half of the first meeting between the two clubs – where Brooklyn outshot Hartford 17-5 – and he was largely correct, but the result once again went the way of the Latics.

It was all Brooklyn almost from the jump, and Antony Siaha had to be alert early, with former Latic Juan Carlos Obregon getting a venomous shot away from a tight angle, but the Hartford keeper was equal to the task, getting down well at his near post.

Obregon put another effort just wide in the 13th minute as Brooklyn continued to play on the front foot. Through a quarter of an hour, the meaningful action was almost entirely in the Hartford half, with the visitors completing just 10 passes in the opposition half, while Brooklyn had completed 40 passes in the attacking half of the pitch.

The defending for the Latics was heroic, with the team combining to block six shots on the night, with Siaha making five saves as well. And it was all necessary, as through the first half, Hartford had barely anything going in attack. Augestine Williams was essentially isolated up top, frequently sandwiched between two or even three Brooklyn defenders on the rare occasions that Hartford was able to even play the ball forward.

Things got worse for the visitors, as Hartford suffered not one but two noncontact injuries in quick succession, as both Matt Real and Adewale Obalola went down with leg injuries. Real’s injury appeared to be a hamstring injury, with the defender limping off the pitch, but Obalola’s might have been more serious, with the forward unable to walk off under his own power. Real was replaced by Baboucarr Njie, and Obalola was replaced by Michee Ngalina.

The two lengthy injury breaks led to nine minutes of stoppage time, but there were no real chances of note, and the teams headed down the tunnel scoreless.

Hartford had the ball in the net in the first minute of the second half, with Michee Ngalina played in behind, but the forward was judged to have been just offside, and the goal did not stand. 

From that bright start, though, things reverted to the same course they had taken in the first half, with Brooklyn once again playing largely on the front foot, although their service in the final third continued to be somewhat inconsistent.

Despite Brooklyn’s dominance, it was Hartford that took the lead in the 64th minute, with Samuel Careaga netting a goal following an excellent move. Hartford did very well to maintain a good spell of possession, with the ball ultimately being played all the way back to Siaha as the Latics searched for a way through. A few passes later, Britton Fischer launched the ball long, and after a misplayed header by a Brooklyn defender, the ball dropped to the feet of Barry Coffey. The midfielder made no mistake, playing the ball directly into Careaga, who split two defenders and calmly fired the ball past former Rhode Island FC goalkeeper Jackson Lee to put the visitors on the board.

There were more good chances for Brooklyn after the goal, with Hartford continuing to have to put their bodies on the line to maintain the lead but the Latics did enough, collecting another clean sheet, their seventh of the season.

Four minutes from the end of regulation, Michee Ngalina sealed all three points for Hartford with a scintillating effort from a difficult angle. Jordan Scarlett had played the ball long. Truthfully, it was more of a clearance than a deliberate effort to find the forward, and Ngalina chested it forward and then fired past Lee from close range. It was an outrageous goal, the kind that Ngalina was known for when he won USL Championship Young Player of the Year with Coloardo Springs.

The goal sealed the deal, and with results elsewhere, Group 5 is wide open, with Hartford on the inside track as they have games remaining against League One strugglers Westchester SC and NY Cosmos.