Athletic Fall in Cross-Country Road Trip

June 11, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Hartford Athletic News Release

San Diego Loyal SC hosted Hartford for their first home game in eight weeks and they were determined to put on a show for their fans. Athletic couldn’t find the back of the net as Loyal posted a clean sheet and knocked off the visitors at Torero Stadium.

Hartford made the cross-country trip to meet San Diego Loyal SC on the road for the first ever meeting between the two clubs. Loyal applied high offensive pressure from the get-go. In the first ten-minutes, they controlled the play in the attacking third of the field, taking the first four shots of the game and gaining eight final third entries as opposed to Hartford’s three. In the 11th minute, San Diego played a long through ball and went streaking towards Hartford’s net, but Conor McGlynn came out of nowhere and slid in just outside the box to prevent a likely Loyal goal. McGlynn was issued a yellow card on the play, beginning a theme for Athletic throughout the next 20 minutes. Head Coach Harry Watling was upset about a no-call that knocked down Corey Hertzog and received a yellow card in the 22nd minute. Two minutes later, the Green and Blue’s gaffer was handed a red card and had to leave the pitch. Then, just three minutes after Watling left the sideline, Hertzog was given a yellow card.

San Diego was able to capitalize on the disruption to Hartford’s sideline, scoring the first goal of the game in the 29th minute. Charlie Adams found himself the recipient of a pass from Collin Martin off a turnover in Athletic’s third and launched a bullet from just outside the box. Goalkeeper Jimmy Slayton got his hand on it, but was unable to slow it down enough as it bounced into the net. Hartford nearly found an answer five minutes later when Logan Gdula fired a long shot from outside the box, serving up a rebound for Corey Hertzog who was able to get a shot off. However, the San Diego keeper just got a hand on it and redirected Hertzog’s shot out of bounds to strand him on the doorstep. Loyal soon added to their lead, when in the 44th minute, Alejandro Guido ran onto a long ball past Hartford’s defense and found himself in a three on one inside Athletic’s box. He passed the ball off to Thomas Amang who finished to put Loyal up by two heading into the break.

The second half of play would be an uphill battle for the Boys in Blue who, both down by a pair and without their Head Coach, were looking to get back into this…