Hartford Pick Up First Result of Preseason In 2-2 Draw With Colorado Rapids -- What We Know
Goals from Rece Buckmaster and Mamadou Dieng cancelled out a Jonathan Lewis brace in an action-packed preseason friendly.
The second of two straight tests against Major League Soccer competition ended in a 2-2 draw for Hartford Athletic on Saturday as they split the points with the Colorado Rapids at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
While the game wasn’t streamed, both teams provided social media updates on the closed-door contest. Pulling from all the information that was made public by both clubs, here’s what we know about the midweek clash in the sunshine state:
Hartford’s battle with MLS competition was just that, as only two of the 22 featured players from the Rapids squad were not officially rostered with the first team: Noah Strellnauer (academy) Marlon Vargas (Colorado Rapids 2) were the only non-senior players to be called up for the preseason friendly.
The scoring got started early as Hartford found the back of the net just 15 minutes into the contest, when Rece Buckmaster got on the end of Jay Champman’s corner. The right-footed out swinger took a deflection off of a Colorado defender before bouncing through traffic, where Buckmaster calmly took it down off the chest with his back to goal and found the net with a right-footed finish on the turn.
The early lead would last until the late stages of the first half, when Jonathan Lewis capitalized on a dangerous giveaway out of the back from Hartford. Stepping into to intercept a pass across the top of Hartford’s box, the winger tucked a low, one-touch finish into lower right corner to knot the game at one in the 39th minute. The teams entered the half tied at one.
As the teams battled to break the deadlock in the second half, Lewis would go on to complete his brace from the spot six minutes past the hour mark, slotting home a right-footed finish into the bottom corner for the Rapids’ first lead of the day.
The lead would last just three minutes, however, as Hartford’s newest signing, Mamadou Dieng, found the back of the net on the break in the 69th minute to tie the game at two.
Despite an a line change of substitutions following the goal, neither team could find the winner as the game ended in a draw of 90 minutes.
With their sole game in Florida now in the rearview mirror, Hartford are due for a pit stop in North Carolina on their way back home, where a meeting with the University of North Carolina awaits them on Saturday.