Sunny in the 70s and lightly breezy, June 4 was one of the few proper late-spring days we’ve had—and a perfect day to give New Haven United FC, the city’s new semi-pro soccer team, a shot.
“Semi-pro” may conjure visions of middling, halfhearted athletes. But, as nearly 200 spectators paying $15 a head could see at Yale’s Reese Stadium, both New Haven (blue) and their opponent, Hartford City FC (gold), were stacked with elite players, most or maybe all of them having competed at the collegiate level. Finely honed power and finesse were obvious in the breakneck dribbling, the long lobs, the hard shots and the controlled passing. The players, who are reportedly unpaid, sprinted up and down the field and ferociously contested every contestable ball, often with heavy contact.
Hartford City’s dramatic club motto, “One Life to Give”—inspired, the team website says, “by the legacy of Nathan Hale, Connecticut’s state hero and America’s first spy”—made more sense before New Haven, where Hale actually lived, joined them in the National Premier Soccer League this year—and before New Haven’s squad showed a greater willingness to put their bodies on the line. The home team’s physical approach led Hartford’s players and a smattering of their fans to repeatedly complain, with occasional justification, that they weren’t getting enough penalty calls from the ref.
Those complaints came to a head near the end of the first half, when a hard challenge by a New Haven striker left Hartford’s keeper, Nate DiLoreto, howling and grasping at his ankle while players on both sides readied for a possible brawl. After a chorus of appeals and a lengthy medical check, the ref came over and told DiLoreto, in an explanatory tone, “He’s lucky he got the ball,” to which the aggrieved keeper said, “I don’t even wanna hear it.”
I was 10 yards from the play, so I know the ref spoke truly. But truth is the first casualty of war, and the fact that DiLoreto finished the game after enduring a level of force that might’ve broken a lesser ankle was impressive. I was also impressed by New Haven’s keeper, Alexander Henrich, who bellowed to his defenders like a platoon commander at Normandy and kicked the ball like a mortar.
The game itself was a fun balance of drama and home success. Hartford had come out strong, putting New Haven on their heels and threatening early with a miss off the goalpost. But New Haven soon found their footing and began to control the game, scoring twice for a 2-0 lead at halftime. Momentum shifted back Hartford’s way about 10 minutes after the resumption of play, culminating in a 69th-minute goal. Hartford then spent the next 20 minutes pressing for another before the clock ran out.
But the danger of pushing hard upfield is that you may leave defensive gaps, especially when the ball squirts out to the side and lands near one of the other team’s speediest attackers. That’s what happened in the 89th minute, when Preston Alessio brought the ball all the way to the other end and, after a bit of fancy footwork, put the game out of reach, 3-1. The hometown fans clapped for a game well-fought, some of them with the knowledge that New Haven had just taken Hartford’s place at the top of the NPSL’s North Atlantic Conference.
New Haven United was less than a month old, and already they had an arch rival as well as a small base of fans. Some of the latter had been won that day, arriving curious and departing with smiles and a glow. Some lingered on the patio near the concession stand after the game, as if trying to savor the experience. That may be a more rational impulse than they realized, since the short NPSL season includes only two more home games, on Wednesday, June 18, and Saturday, June 28. Playoffs will likely follow, in July, but there’s no telling where.
So if you want to experience this inaugural New Haven United squad for yourself, time is, like it was for Hartford in the second half, short.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
