A penalty kick from Tampa Bay’s Manuel Arteaga in the 87th minute lifted the visiting Rowdies to a 1-0 USL Championship victory over the short-handed Hartford Athletic on Friday night at Trinity Health Stadium.
Hartford (5-8-1) played one player short for the entire second half after midfielder Beverly Makanglia received a second yellow card and a subsequent red card after colliding with Tampa Bay’s Pacifique Niyongabire with two minutes left in the first half.
Hartford goalie Renan Ribeiro keep the Athletic in the match with six saves but Hartford struggled to pressure the Rowdies (8-4-3).
With the man advantage, the Rowdies controlled possession throughout the second half and kept kept Hartford’s defense under attack until the final minutes, forcing five saves from Riberio.
The Brazilian keeper was a rock for Hartford’s defense, locking down the net against the 16 shots fired towards the Green and Blue in the second half. His best save of the night came in the 72nd minute when he made a dove block to stop a low drive from Manuel Arteaga, who was open in the box.
In the 84th minute, Ribeiro was subbed off due to injury and Hartford coach Brendan Burke turned to rookie goalkeeper Greg Monroe.
Just two minutes later, Hartford’s Younes Boudadi was called for a foul in the box while defending Tampa Bay’s Damien Rivera. Manuel Arteaga took the penalty kick and converted it to the bottom right corner of the net, giving Tampa Bay the late lead. After eight minutes of stoppage time, the match ended 1-0 to the Rowdies.
It was an impressive defensive effort from Hartford as a whole, the team had 33 clearances led by Jordan Scarlett who contributed 10. Deshane Beckford had an offensive night offensively, taking four shots and putting two on target.
Friday night’s match got out to a physical start, with three yellow cards given out before the clock reached 10 minutes. Much of the action came in the middle of the field in the early stages, as neither team had a touch in the opposition’s box until the 17th minute.
The Rowdies created the first scoring threat in the 26th minute when Caleb Jennings found space in the box and fired off a header, forcing a diving save from Ribeiro.
After the ensuing corner kick, The Green and Blue responded on the counter attack to create their first scoring chance of the night. Younes Boudadi led the breakout in transition and found Deshane Beckford at the top of the box, the Jamaican winger squared a shot on target that Jordan Farr denied with two hands.
Two minutes later, Hartford nearly struck first when an unsuccessful clearing attempt left Jordan Farr outside the box and the Rowdies’ goal wide open. Jay Chapman sent a short ball to an open Marcus Epps, but Farr scrambled back in front of goal to make a desperation save.
Hartford returns to the pitch with a game at Sacramento next Saturday night at 11 p.rn., EST.
Tampa Bay 1, Hartford 0
At Hartford
Tampa Bay (8-4-3) 0 1 — 1
Hartford (5-8-1) 0 0 — 0
Goals: 87’ – Arteaga (TB); Saves: Hartford 6-3, Shots: Tampa Bay 26-9; Shots on target: Tampa Bay, 7-3; Corner kicks: Tampa Bay 5-2
Hartford starting linuep — 40 (GK) Renan Ribeiro (84’ Greg Monroe), 2 (DF) Younes Boudadi, 5 (DF) Triston Hodge (90’ Danny Barrera), 15 (DF) Joe Farrell, 23 (DF) Thomas Vancaeyezeele, 4 (DF) Jordan Scarlett, 6 (MF) Beverly Makangila, 8 (MF) Jay Chapman, 7 (FW) Marcus Epps (88’ Mamadou Dieng), 11 (FW) Michee Ngalina, 13 (FW) Deshane Beckford (88’ Emmanuel Samadia)
Tampa Bay starting lineup — 1 (GK) Jordan Farr, 22 Jordan Doherty (DF), 33 Aaron Guillen (DF), 19 Frederick Kleemann (DF) (67’ Damien Rivera), 4 Lewis Hilton (MF), 23 Edwin Munjoma (MF), 17 Daniel Crisostomo (MF), 27 Pacifque Niyongabire (MF), 26 Caleb Jennings (93’ Zach Herivaux), (FW), 14 Charlie Dennis (FW) (68’ Manuel Arteaga), 98 Joshua Perez (FW) (82’ Blake Bodily)
Since 2009, the Collinsville Press has been providing award-winning coverage of sports and news in the Farmington Valley and across Connecticut.


Boys Basketball
Mills pulls away from Simsbury for sixth win of season
