Hartford Drop Season Opener in High Scoring Affair, 5-3 to Monterey Bay FC

March 11, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Hartford Athletic News Release

Defensive lapses in the first half of tonight’s match forced Hartford to play from behind, resulting in a 5-3 loss to Monterey Bay FC on the road.

Tonight’s match opened with an action-packed first half full of offense, amounting to six total goals and a hat trick for Monterey Bay’s Alex Dixon. The goalscoring began almost immediately after a miscue in the Hartford back line in the second minute of the match. Sam Gleadle played a pass in Hartford’s box that deflected off Kaveh Rad and Kembo Kibato, who both failed to clear the ball for Hartford, allowing it to fall to Alex Dixon. The forward finished a one-on-one opportunity with Richard Sànchez, giving his side the early lead.

The game settled down for Hartford after the early mistake, as they broke through to equalize in the 23rd minute. In transition, Andre Lewis found a streaking Prince Saydee behind the Monterey Bay defense in their half. Saydee played a brilliant touch on the ball, dribbling passed the sprawling Antony Siaha out of his box, and finished on the open net. Just over 15 minutes later, Dixon struck a second time for Monterey Bay. Max Glasser made a run to the Hartford end line, crossed a well-placed ball into the box, and Dixon headed it perfectly into the bottom right corner of the net.

Hartford responded almost immediately, equalizing for a second time about 90 seconds later on a beautifully executed set piece. Saydee looped a ball into the box that was headed by Amoh towards the net, then touched by the head of Niall Logue, and roofed to the top of the net off the foot of Kaveh Rad. Three minutes later, Sam Gleadle got behind the Hartford defense and was awarded a penalty after being tripped by Richard Sánchez in the box. Dixon took the penalty for Monterey Bay and the former Hartford Athletic forward completed the first half hat trick, giving his side a 3-2 lead. The home team kept their foot on the gas in the half’s final minutes. Gleadle made another run to the back post, fed a ball into traffic that deflected off of Rad and into the net for an own goal. After a wild first half, Monterey Bay took a 4-2 lead into the locker room.

The second half was scoreless until Adrian Rebollar added a fifth goal for Monterey Bay. Dixon fired a pass into the box for Sam Gleadle, who laid the ball off nicely to Rebollar and the midfielder smashed his shot past Sànchez.

Now down by three goals, Hartford…