Match Recap: Huntsville City draw Atlanta United II 2-2, lose penalty shootout
It was Star Wars Night in the Rocket City, and the rain couldn’t stop the fireworks as Huntsville City FC and Atlanta United FC 2 played to a 2-2 draw, with Atlanta picking up the extra point courtesy of a 5-4 penalty shootout victory.
Let’s dive in.
Lineup
Shockingly, even to me, I was somehow mostly correct about this lineup in our match preview. Erik Lauta reclaimed his spot in goal, and in front of him a backline of Blake Bowen, Zach Barrett, Kevin Carmichael and Jordan Knight also played from the start.
The double pivot in this one was Pep Casas and Ethan O’Brien, supporting a front four of Christian Koffi, Damien Barker John, Alan Carleton, and Gunnar Studenhofft.
Off the bench, substitute appearances were given to Moises Véliz, Isaiah Jones, Adem Sipic, Tyshawn Rose and Real Gill.
Between the Whistles
Early in this one, both teams traded half chances and struggled to gain a firm grip on the game. This back and forth promptly came to an end in the 20th minute courtesy of an executive decision made by Jordan Knight.
Knight received the ball about 65 yards from goal, and simply decided enough was enough. Zach Barrett will nominally get the assist here, but this goal was all Knight. When I say he decided enough was enough, I mean he literally just took the ball and ran right past his man, into space, and eventually into the box where he picked out the far corner.
Then it was the turn of the former Atlanta man Alan Carleton to extend the hosts’ advantage in the 42nd, after a clipped cross from Damien Barker John floated into just the right area for a power header to the near post.
However, Atlanta was determined to not die here. Just three minutes later, Gabriel Wesseh lashed a shot at the Huntsville goal from just outside the area, and it was near inch perfect, leaving Erik Lauta with little to no chance of maintaining his clean sheet.
This goal gave Atlanta the momentum. Aside from a chance for Real Gill about fifteen seconds into the second half, Huntsville struggled for consistent threat. Atlanta did not.
In the 61st minute, Salvatore Mazzaferro leveled the scores for the visitors, and through a flurry of late Huntsville chances, most notably for Adem Sipic in the 89th, they held their nerve and took the game to a shootout.
First up for Huntsville stepped Christian Koffi, who had his attempt saved. This would be the difference, even as Lauta got his hand to each of Atlanta’s fourth and fifth attempts from the spot. It was a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes, but a 5-4 shootout victory to give Atlanta the extra point and maintain the history that the home side in this fixture has never won.
The Numbers
Huntsville City FC
Shots- 8
Shots on goal- 5
Possession- 56%
Corners- 6
Yellow Cards- 3 (Gunnar Studenhofft, Damien Barker John, Kevin Carmichael)
Atlanta United FC 2
Shots- 8
Shots on goal- 3
Possession- 44%
Corners- 2
Yellow Cards- 3 (Adyn Torres, Ronan Wynne, Javier Pastor)
Analysis
Huntsville should’ve won this game, if only because of what they created late. Atlanta absolutely deserved both of their goals, don’t get me wrong, but much the same, Huntsville deserved the chances they created in the final stages of the game.
The result is absolutely fair, but Atlanta should definitely feel a bit more fortunate than they might in other similar games. I truly believe this is a playoff team in Huntsville, and that’s the kind of game that real contenders need to be getting three points from, honestly.
Across the board, the only performance on the field I thought was lacking was Gunnar Studenhofft, who was just way too reckless in his challenges and picked up a yellow, causing him to be subbed at the half. Those kinds of games happen, and evidently Sipic and Gio Miglietti aren’t or haven’t done anything to unseat Studenhofft, so he absolutely deserves to remain a starter.
This was also Studenhofft’s first real poor performance in a while too, so I won’t hold it over him. There were a few surprises in roster management that we saw on Saturday from the Rocket Men, too. First, I suspected Christian Koffi and Ethan O’Brien may be on the soccer equivalent of a “pitch count” due to their potential involvement in Nashville’s US Open Cup game on Tuesday against Chattanooga Red Wolves.
They were not, both of them played the full 90 minutes. This likely limits them to a cameo appearance, if that. Second, when Isaiah Jones came on for Damien Barker John, my initial thought was that he would slide into the double pivot with Moises Véliz, pushing O’Brien into the number 10 role.
This didn’t happen, as Jones proved a like-for-like substitute for Barker John on the right wing. Truthfully, he performed well in that spot too. The growth he’s shown over the past year is tremendous, and yes it’s enough that you can visually see it in a ~10 minute cameo. Hats off to him.