John Berner Shines As Hartford Blanks Colorado Springs to Continue Excellent Road Form
The Latics backed up Berner's seven-save performance with two goals of their own to take all three points at Weidner Field
It was a victorious return to Weidner Field for Brendan Burke as Hartford Athletic ran out 2-0 winners, keyed by a lights-out performance by backup goalkeeper John Berner. With the victory, the Latics are now unbeaten in 11 straight games on the road in all competitions, and at least temporarily moved up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Berner — making his first start in the USL Championship since October 15, 2022 — was truly the man of the match. The 34-year-old made seven saves to earn his clean sheet, including a couple in the first half that truly came out of the top drawer.
His first big moment came in the 10th minute. Baboucarr Njie was caught napping by Yosuke Hanya, who burst into the box with the ball and laid it off for Kyle Vassell who was left with only Berner to beat. The forward opted to go back across the keeper’s body, but Berner got his left foot out and deflected the shot away.
Six minutes later, Berner had to make another great save, this time from a Marco Micaletto header. The Switchbacks found space down their left-hand side through Jonas Fjeldberg, who cut the ball back for Cole Mrowka, who had all the time in the world to pick out his cross. It found the head of Micaletto, who had essentially a free header, but Berner was able to divert the ball over the bar to keep the score level.
Going the other way, Hartford were really struggling to get out of its own half, reduced to launching hopeful long balls and generally did not seem to have a proper handle on the game. Colorado Springs were just a bit quicker to everything and its pressure was giving problems to a Hartford team that seemed rather sluggish.
The hosts had yet another great chance in the 24th minute, when Berner had to get down quickly to save a Tyler Clegg header following a corner. The rebound spilled into the path of Mrowka, who fired it over the bar when it might have been easier to score.
And yet despite all that, it was Hartford that took the lead.
Michee Ngalina was the driving force, bursting past defenders and into the box. The ball was poked away from him, and a scramble ensued that ended with it in the back of Christian Herrera’s net. Adewale Obalola and Sebastian Anderson both appeared to get a foot on it — as did at least one Switchbacks player — and it was unclear who got the last touch on it, although the goal was credited to Obalola.
Colorado Springs had one more chance before half-time, and this time it was their own profligacy rather than Berner’s heroics that kept them scoreless. Arturo Diz Pe misplayed a long ball, and Vassell was suddenly one-on-one with Berner. The Hartford keeper slipped slightly as Vassell tried to round him, and the goal was gaping in front of the forward, but he blazed his shot high and wide.
Hartford had been second best by miles in the first half, and yet they had a lead and then expanded it inside the first 10 minutes of the second half. Jack Panayotou played the ball out wide to Obalola, who cut it back to Anderson. The full back drove into the box and then laid it off to Panayotou, who picked his spot and fired past Herrera to double Hartford’s lead. It was Panayotou’s fifth goal of the season in all competitions, making him the fourth different Hartford player to hit that mark this season.
After Hartford’s second, there continued to be chances for both sides. Tyler Clegg rattled the crossbar in the 67th minute with a long-range effort, and Samuel Careaga and Hadji Barry both blazed over from just outside the box when they had chances to perhaps put the game to bed. Berner also had to make one more save, keeping out a Duke Lacroix effort at his near post in the 85th minute.
Ultimately, it was something of an outlier performance for Hartford in recent months. The 25 shots they conceded were a season high, topping the 22 taken by New Mexico United on July 30, and they were clearly second best for much of the night for the first time since a nil-nil draw with Rhode Island two weeks prior to that.
It didn’t matter, though, as the Latics found a way to win. The three points lifted them to fourth in the table and keeps alive the dream of a home playoff game.
Hartford will now stay out west for next weekend’s USL Jägermeister Cup final against Sacramento Republic.