EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (June 28, 2019) – It was a night of firsts for Bethlehem Steel FC tonight as the club earned its first win over USL Championship expansion side Hartford Athletic 3-0. The match also saw Issa Rayyan score his first professional goal, Cole Turner provide his first Steel FC assist and Tomás Romero record his first clean sheet of 2019.
The Steel FC attack was all over Hartford early with Faris drawing first blood in the 17th minute, his fifth of the season. Union Academy midfielder Cole Turner made the assist, his first for the Steel, off a quick restart deep in the midfield with a perfectly weighted ball to the Cameroonian forward. Issa Rayyan buried his first professional goal in the 37th minute after Faris’ pass from the end line was deflected to Rayyan’s feet and he danced around a flurry of panicking Hartford defenders. Walter Cortés locked it up for the visitors with an insurance goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.
Hartford Athletic had no answer for the Steel defense tonight. Between the backline and Union Academy goalkeeper Tomás Romero, all eight of the hosts’ shots were turned away. The match marked the second clean sheet of 2019 for Steel FC and the first since the club shut out Birmingham Legion FC on March 10 in a 2-0 affair.
The loanees from Philadelphia Union stepped up big time in the absence of team captain James Chambers, who was serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation. Midfielder Anthony Fontana was a force in the midfield, creating four chances and recording a team-high three tackles. Defender Matt Real wore the armband in place of Chambers and was key in organizing the backline, stepping in at center back for the Steel tonight.
Bethlehem Steel FC next travels to take on in-state rivals Pittsburgh Riverhounds next Thursday, July 4 at Highmark Stadium. (7:00 p.m. ET | Highmark Stadium | Pittsburgh, Pa. | ESPN+).
RECAP:
Bethlehem Steel FC 3 – Hartford Athletic 0
Rentschler Field (East Hartford, Conn.)
Friday, June 28, 2019
TODAY’S MATCH INFO:
Venue: Rentschler Field (East Hartford, Conn.)
Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Assistant Referees: Patrick Casey; Amilcar Sicaju
Fourth Official: Jeremy Scheer
Weather: 84 degrees and clear
Attendance: 5,012
GOALS/ASSISTS
BST – Faris (Cole Turner) 17’
BST – Issa Rayyan (Unassisted) 37’
BST – Walter Cortés (Chavany Willis) 90+1’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
BST – Faris (caution) 52’
BST – Nathan Harriel (caution) 55’
BST – Shanyder Borgelin (caution) 90’
HFD – Nikolaj Lyngo (caution) 90+4’
LINEUP
Bethlehem Steel FC: Tomás Romero; Walter Cortés, Matt Real ©, Ben Ofeimu, Nathan Harriel; Cole Turner, Anthony Fontana (Steve Kingue 90’), Chavany Willis, Zach Zandi; Faris (Shanyder Borgelin 85’), Issa Rayyan (Axel Picazo 75’)
Substitutes not used: Brady McSwain; Selmir Miscic, Michee Ngalina, Yomi Samuele Scintu
Hartford Athletic: Frederik Due; Raymond Lee, Kyle Curinga, Sem de Wit, Harry Swartz; Mads Jorgensen (Ryan Williams 78’), Nicky Downs; Danny Barrera, Philip Rasmussen © (Nikolaj Lyngo 85’), Hugh Alexander Dixon; José Angulo (Wojciech Wojcik 64’)
Substitutes not used: Jacob Lissek; Michael Novotny
TEAM NOTES
Bethlehem Steel FC midfielder Issa Rayyan opened his professional account in the match tonight, scoring his first career goal for the club. The goal came on Rayyan’s only shot during the match.
Philadelphia Union Academy midfielder Cole Turner provided his first Steel FC assist tonight, making a quick restart on Faris’ goal to open the scoring tonight.
The Steel recorded their second clean sheet of the season in the match, turning away all eight shots on target from Hartford Athletic. The clean sheet is the club’s first since shutting out Birmingham Legion FC on March 10 of this year.
Steel FC forward Faris scored his fifth goal of 2019. The mark is a career high with the Steel, following a three-goal performance in 2018. He is the club’s leading goal scorer on the season.
Philadelphia Union midfielder Anthony Fontana was heavily involved in the midfield against Hartford Athletic. The Newark, Delaware native created four chances with a 92.1% passing accuracy on the offensive side of the ball, while leading the team in tackles with three on the defensive side.
Bethlehem Steel FC defender Walter Cortés marked his second goal of 2019 for the club. Cortés played 90 minutes in tonight’s match, making one tackle, committing zero fouls and taking two shots.
Tomás Romero stood strong in goal tonight. The Union Academy goalkeeper made eight saves against Hartford Athletic, maintaining his first clean sheet of 2019.
Bethlehem Steel FC next travels to take on in-state rivals Pittsburgh Riverhounds next Thursday, July 4 at Highmark Stadium. (7:00 p.m. ET | Highmark Stadium | Pittsburgh, Pa. | ESPN+).
