Hartford Athletic Snatch Three Points With Late Win Over North Carolina FC

A stoppage-time header from Arturo Diz Pe gave the Latics the victory

Hartford Athletic ran their unbeaten streak to nine games with a come-from-behind win over North Carolina FC on Saturday night, with goals from Samuel Careaga and Arturo Diz Pe complimenting an own-goal from former Latic Triston Hodge. The victory mark the first time the club have claimed an away victory over NCFC.

The Latics got off to the perfect start when Samuel Careaga scored inside the opening six minutes for the second consecutive game. Michee Ngalina whipped in a dangerous cross, and Careaga’s first effort caromed off the crossbar but the midfielder was quickest to the rebound and headed it home to give his side the lead.

Following the goal and through the opening quarter of an hour, Hartford were well on top of the game, outshooting its hosts 6-0. There were some danger signs, though, as NCFC started to find some joy down their left-hand side, and their ability to get at Hartford on the counter would prove to be a warning that should have been well heeded.

The Latics should absolutely have doubled their lead in the 20th minute when Kyle Edwards burst through and rounded the keeper, but his first touch took him slightly wide, and he could only fire into the side netting. It was a rare misfire from the strike who has been excellent in similar situations so far this season.

NCFC finally got their first shot away in the 31st minute, when Pedro Dolabella fired well over from distance. It didn’t take the hosts long to find an equalizer from there. TJ Presthus was caught out by a quick through-ball on the right-hand side of the Hartford defense, and Patrick Burner was suddenly away with acres of space in front of them. Burner played an inch-perfect cross into the box and Oalex Anderson was able to stretch and turn the ball past Antony Siaha to restore parity between the two sides.

Hartford seemed frustrated and a little rattled after conceding. Probing long balls turned into errant ones, and Anderson and the rest of the NCFC attack were starting to find the spaces in between the Hartford defenders as they turned up the pressure, although they found no further goals in the first half.

In stoppage time, Hartford had three consecutive corners, but weren’t able to turn any of them into a meaningful effort on goal, and the score remained level at the half-time whistle. Given the number of chances the Latics had —they outshot NCFC 10-4 in the first forty-five minutes — they might have felt they should have had more than one goal but the hosts had shown more than enough over the last 15 minutes to be worth their goal and one-all was probably fair.

An early chance for Owen Presthus not withstanding, the opening segment of the second half was much quieter for both sides. As the game headed towards the hour mark, though, the hosts again began to find some joy with the counter-attack, turning the ball over in dangerous areas and putting the Latics under pressure, but solid team defending by the visitors kept things all square.

Careaga almost put Hartford in front again just after the hour mark with a dipping effort from just outside the box, but his effort caromed off the woodwork and the scores remained level.

A welcome sight for Hartford in the second half was the return to action of Jack Panayotou. After scoring a brace on his debut against Portland Hearts of Pine in the USL Jägermeister Cup, he made only two further appearances before suffering an injury, and hasn’t been on the pitch for Hartford since May 10.

A less welcome sight for the visitors was NCFC’s second goal, which came in the 80th minute. A long ball over the top let Oalex Anderson — who had been a thorn in Hartford’s side all night — in behind, and while Antony Siaha did well to save his effort, no defender was tracking the follow-up run of Raheem Sommersall, who fired home to give his side the lead.

Hartford drew level just seven minutes later, through an own-goal by former Latic Triston Hodge. Michee Ngalina did all the work, easily turning his defender near midfield and bursting forward towards the penalty area. In the box, he hit across towards the center of the area, and Hodge could only turn it beyond his own keeper.

At this point, it looked like it might go down as a draw, but in second-half stoppage time, Hartford found the winner through Arturo Diz Pe. Moments earlier, Michee Ngalina had hit a curler from just outside the box that Oliver Semmle did well to turn over the crossbar, but the keeper could do nothing about Diz Pe’s header from the resulting corner.

Emmanuel Samadia whipped the ball in, and Diz Pe rose above everyone to smash home a towering header and give his side a late lead. The defender has hardly been a major contributor of goals for the club, but it was his second late goal to earn his side a result over their nine-game unbeaten run, following his equalizer in the USL Jägermeister Cup game against RIFC.

There was one more scramble in the Hartford box, when it looked like the ball might drop to an NCFC player for a good look at goal, but the Latics were able to clear their lines. A late free kick for the hosts —which brought keeper Semmle up for one last chance — came to nothing, and the full-time whistle blew on another three points for Hartford.

With the win, Hartford move up to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, easily the best position it has been in at this late stage of the year (excepting the Covid-shortened 2020 season). It’s also an excellent way to kick off an exceedingly busy stretch, as the Latics will play four more times before the middle of September.