The Conard boys soccer team hosted Wethersfield on Tuesday in West Hartford.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Ray Hilario scored twice in the second half – including a penalty kick with 90 seconds to go – to earn Conard a 3-3 tie with Wethersfield boys soccer.

The Red Wolves found themselves playing from behind throughout the game and avoided the loss with a furious comeback in the second half. The visiting Eagles came into the game looking for their first win of the season at 0-4-2. “CCC teams come in here and want to prove themselves every time,” said Conard head coach Greg Smedberg. “Credit to Wethersfield today.”

It didn’t take Wethersfield very long to show that they meant business. Just under seven minutes in, Marvin Odei squared the ball to teammate Damian Sardo in the Conard box. Sardo went one-on-one with Arinze Oteka and got enough space to let a shot go that beat goalie Henry Eagan to the near side.

The Eagles pressed the offense by using long balls and through balls to beat the Conard back line. On one of those tries, Ismet Krdzic found himself behind the Red Wolves’ defense and let a rising shot go that Eagan deflected over the crossbar.

At the other end, Conard was called offsides multiple times as they tried to move in transition. Moving the ball along the left wing, they were finding space and using ball control from Cam Robinson and Hilario to try and create space and pressure on the Wethersfield goal. When they were able to get shots off, goalie Tony Pantaleo was in good position to safely secure the ball. One of his best came on Hilario with just over 26 minutes to go in the first when the senior striker looked to find room on the near side of the goal.

Conard’s Eagan and defenseman CJ Plumb managed to keep it a one-goal deficit when the goalie challenged Odei on a breakaway and managed to deflect the ball. It went up and over the prone goalie and landed right in front of the goal line with Plumb racing to clear it ahead of Odei.

Thirty seconds seconds later Wethersfield struck again, this time off a corner kick. Sardo sent the ball into the box and teammate      Andrews Bielawiec controlled with his thigh then one-timed it on goal. Eagan got a hand on the shot but it trickled by for the 2-0 lead.

The hosts had a pair of promising chances by Robinson and Melu Oteka that were saved. With just under 11 to play in the half, Conard would get on the scoreboard. Robinson started things with a free kick that was deflected on goal. Wethersfield cleared the ball, but it went right to Riberio who knocked it home to make it 2-1. “They  pressed and countered and we were a little slow on our passes” was how Smedberg described the early part of the half.

In the second half it was a more desperate and a more organized Conard that controlled large periods of play. This time they spread out to passing between midfield and both wings and found more space and more good chances to tie the game. It took them awhile, but with just under 17 minutes to play Hilario scored to even the score. From the wing he managed to turn his defender and sent a cross into the box. It banged off a Wethersfield player and past Pantaleo, and Conard had come all the way back to tie the game.

Six minutes later Wethersfield would reclaim the lead that started with a counter attack. It started with Odei battling Conard’s Oteka for the ball in the Red Wolves’ box. Odei would go down on a tackle from behind just outside the 18-yard line setting up a free kick for the Eagles to the right of the goal about six feet from the touchline. Sardo let the kick go and Julian Grzybacz went high to head the ball into the back of the net for a 3-2 lead.

As Conard continued their attack, Eagan and Ribeiro had a big collision as both chased a ball sent into the box by Oteka. Both players went down hard and stayed down for a few minutes before getting up and staying in the game. With 1:30 to play, Oteka beat a double team coming out of the corner with the ball. He was then taken down from behind in the box by a Wethersfield defender, drawing the whistle and giving the Red Wolves the penalty kick.

Hilario stepped up and fired a hard shot to the left of Eagan. The goalie managed to get a hand on it, but the pace and location of the shot made it impossible to stop and once again Conard had tied the game. “I usually decide before the game where I would go with a penalty,” Hilario said. “I take a few before the other team arrives.”

“In the second half we focused on what we know we are good at,” Smedberg said. “We adjusted to their style, kept the ball and were patient.”

The tie  moved Conard’s unbeaten streak to four at  2-0-2. “I always tell them when you feel it you have to believe it, too, and you will get a result,” said Conard’s coach of the late game effort.

For Hilario, it all comes down to him and his teammates staying true to their plan. “The most important thing is remembering our identity. We are working on playing our style and just focus on us.”

Conard is back in action on Thursday when they meet Simsbury, a team much like Wethersfield that is having a down season by their standards, but always is a threat to play against.

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