Assessing The 90: Hartford Athletic Shut Out At Home
A rough season did not get any better on Saturday night as Tab Ramos and his squad fell to their third straight loss at home.
Another week, another loss. That seems to be the reality for Hartford Athletic, and Saturday night’s 2-0 loss to Indy Eleven was no different.
Despite controlling the game for the better part of 70 minutes in what Hartford head coach Tab Ramos called “the best game [Hartford] have played all year,” the same issues that have plagued the Green and Blue all season continued to cost them on Saturday — Failure to capitalize on chances, conceding late goals and simply not being able to turn a positive performance into a result.
After spending four of their last five games at home through June, Hartford came out of the home stand with only two points — and one of them came on the road. Dropping nine points to end the month is always far from ideal, but to do so in three straight home games is simply salt in the wounds to a fanbase who have only seen their team win once at Trinity Health Stadium this season.
Once again, the starting XI featured a number of changes from last week’s late 4-3 loss to Charleston. Most notably, Richard Sánchez got the nod between the sticks for the first time in three games, after losing his spot to former New England Revolution II goalkeeper Joe Rice in early June.
Elsewhere, Andre Lewis, Elvis Amoh and Prince Saydee led the line up front, while Kyle Edwards — who had a goal against Indy two weeks ago as well as a brace against Charleston that earned him Team of the Week honors — was left on the bench. Niall Logue (C) and Luke Merrill were also re-introduced to the lineup on the defensive end after being benched last week.
Once again, a positive opening half for Hartford saw them outshoot Indy 8-1, but the home side ultimately could not find the back of the net. Their first real chance of the half came inside the first 10 minutes when Andre Lewis found the feet of Elvis Amoh at the top of the box, who’s low shot on the turn dragged just past former Hartford shot stopper Yannick Oettl’s left post.
Lewis would find himself in a similar position just five minutes later, receiving Luke Merrill’s pass just outside the 18 before taking a touch onto his preferred right foot. This allowed time for the Indy defenders to get back before Lewis eventually lined a shot through traffic into almost an identical position as Amoh’s previous effort, just wide of the post.
Despite taking eight shots to Indy’s one, Hartford only found the target once, and ultimately were forced to pay the price as the two teams went into the locker room scoreless.
Just minutes out of the half, Hartford’s misfortune would continue as their best chance of the night once again went missing. A quick 1-2 linkup with Lewis and Saydee in the box snuck the ball through four defenders, eventually coming back to the feet of Lewis at the top of the six in front of a wide open net with only the keeper to beat. However, Lewis could not find his footing in time, eventually launching the left footed shot just as an onrushing Oettl made himself big enough to deflect the shot out for a corner.
It was opportunities like that, according to Ramos, that made all the difference when it came to the final result.
"We have to finish our chances,” Ramos said postgame. “We had 1v1's with the goalkeeper and we couldn’t put the ball away. At the end, the other team had two chances and they put them away. So that’s the difference in the game.”
Eventually, Hartford would be made to pay for their lack of execution in the final third when a rocket off the foot of Cam Lindley found the back of the net from almost 30 yards out. Receiving the ball off of former Hartford man Younes Boudadi’s cross from the right corner, the first time shot off the half-volley nailed Sánchez’s left post on the rise before nestling into the opposite side netting to give the visitors the 1-0 lead in the 72nd minute.
Indy would eventually deliver the dagger deep into second-half stoppage time, when Roberto Molina sliced through the Hartford defense with a pass that sent Douglas Martínez through on goal. Martínez confidently buried the shot past Sánchez and into the far post from inside the box to give the visitors the 2-0 lead, a result that would eventually hold until the final whistle.
The loss was Hartford’s third-straight in as many home games, a stretch where they were outscored 9-4. However, despite the result, Ramos was not displeased with the home side’s effort through 90 minutes.
“I think today we played probably the best game we’ve played all year,” Ramos said. “I feel today was a game we should’v won, we likely should’ve won 4-0, and we ended up with a loss. I don’t know what we can do about other teams scoring a bomb the way they did.”
The loss continued to strand Hartford in the depths of the Eastern Conference, who sit dead last, six points off of a playoff spot with only two wins on the year. With an unsuccessful home stand now coming to a close, the Green and Blue will hit the road next week for a second meeting with Loudoun United — the first of which provided Hartford with one of their two wins on the year.
For Hartford, it it back to the drawing board — a familiar phrase. Kickoff from Segra Field is schedule for Monday, July 3 at 7:15 p.m. on WCTX MyTV9 and ESPN+.