June 20, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Hartford Athletic News Release
Coming off a commanding home victory last Saturday to mark the first defeat against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC since 2020, Hartford Athletic carry some momentum into their matchup with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
LAST TIME OUT
Hartford Athletic beat the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2-0 at home last week. The win was headlined by a brace from Michee Ngalina, scoring both of his goals before the 20th minute and the Green and Blue never looked back. The first goal came in the sixth minute, when Ngalina chased down a long ball from Triston Hodge and beat Jacob Randolph to the bottom right corner. The tally marked the fastest goal Hartford had scored all season, just five minutes in. Ngalina struck again in the 16th minute, this time with the help of Deshane Beckford. The Jamaican winger made a run up the left flank into Pittsburgh’s box and sent a low cross that Ngalina slid to, tapping the ball into the net off of a volley. The visitors made multiple attempts to level out the score, including hitting the post twice, but were ultimately unsuccessful. The Green and Blue put pressure on the Hounds’ defense into the final minutes of play, but the score remained 2-0 at the end of the match.
MATCHUP HISTORY
Hartford Athletic are 2-7-1 all-time against the Rowdies, defeating them most recently in 2021 at Al Lang Stadium 1-0. Athletic last saw the Rowdies in September of 2023 on their home turf, suffering a frustrating 2-0 loss that featured two Hartford own goals. The Green and Blue out possessed Tampa Bay 52% to 48% and outshot them 16 to seven, but came short of capitalizing on any goal-scoring opportunities. The Rowdies’ two goals came within 10 minutes of each other in the 16th and 26th minutes of play, one bouncing off the back of Joe Rice and into the net, and the other deflecting off of Beverly Makangila into an open net on a counter-attacking opportunity for Tampa Bay.
BACK-FLIPPING INTO FORM
Michee Ngalina’s brace last week was his first two-goal performance since he won the USL Championship’s Young Player of the Year award in 2022, and a positive sign that the prolific goal scorer is coming into form for Hartford. “Michee looked like himself tonight. He looked like the guy who was winning us games every weekend out in Colorado,” said Coach Burke after Ngalina’s brace last week. “…And everybody else was in perfect position to support his movements.” It was a breakout…