1-1 Draw for American Soccer Club New York and Hartford City FC
By Michael Lewis/American Soccer Club New York
On the warmest and most humid night of the year, the American Soccer Club New York Fighting Tomcats and Hartford City FC played to a 1-1 draw in a National Premier Soccer League match at Captains Field on the campus of Hofstra University on Tuesday night.
The Tomcats (9 points), who are in fifth place in the North Atlantic Conference, moved to 2-3-3, while first-place Hartford City FC’s record now stands at 5-2-1 with 16 points.
Game time temperature at the 7:07 pm ET kickoff was 99 degrees.
To keep on the safe side, there were two hydration breaks in each half. That did not include breaks in the action as both teams had injured players tended to.
All things considered, the rivals rarely slowed down because of the heat, as they forced the issue and tried to create scoring opportunities on both ends of the pitch.
Mid-season acquisition James Thristino, who has forged a local reputation for scoring goals, lived up to that, lifting the Tomcats into a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute. Thristino, a vital member of the 2024 National Amateur Cup champions N.Y. Pancyprian Freedoms, scored from the left side past goalkeeper Nate DiLoreto after he was set up by forward Brian Saramago.
Hartford pushed up and created several dangerous opportunities that were thwarted by the defense or goalkeeper Kenneth Cordova.
In the 25th minute, Troy Miller worked his way into the box and forced Cordova to come out of the net. Miller, however, rifled his shot over the empty net. Two minutes later, Miller put one on target, but Cordova made the save.
Miller wouldn’t give up. He was about to enter the box, but defender Nicholas Wilson made the first of two fine tackles to keep Hartford off the scoreboard.
Hartford forward Matteo Azambuja looked like he was going to have a decent shot on net in a 1v1 situation, but he let the ball bounce one time too many and Cordova was able to gather it in.
ASCNY came close to doubling its lead in the 44th minute. Midfielder Juan Gomez sent a long ball from near the midfield line that Saramago volleyed toward the net, but DiLoreto parried it out of bounds for a corner kick.
The Tomcats could have used that goal because the visitors equalized on just about the last kick of the half. Midfielder Ronan O’Brien drilled an 18-yard shot around a five-man defensive wall and into the upper right corner to walk off the field with a 1-1 deadlock.
Connetquot High School defender Dylan Lopez, 16, who made his Tomcats debut in a 1-1 draw at the New York Shockers on Saturday, made his first home appearance, coming on in the 67th minute.
The hosts continued to grind away in search of the game-winner.
Ten minutes later, Christopher Morandi raced into the penalty area, but fired his shot over the bar.
On a Tomcats corner kick in the 86th minute, midfielder Matthias Adamek headed his attempt over the crossbar. Morandi tried a header six minutes into injury time, but that traveled over the goal.
After seven minutes of added time, neither team could find the deciding tally as they walked off the field with one point apiece.
The Tomcats hit the road to visit New Haven United FC on Saturday, June 28 before returning home to host the same team in their regular season finale at Captains Field on Saturday, July 5 at 7:00 pm.
Photo Credit: Terry Uellendahl/American Soccer Club New York
