Playoff hopes end: Sporting Club Jacksonville officially saw its postseason chances end for its inaugural USL Championship men's soccer season, losing 2-0 to Hartford Athletic on Sept. 16 at Hartford, Conn.
Season sweep: Hartford (9-5-10), which beat Sporting Jax 3-0 in the season opener in March, completed the season sweep beginning when Jordan Scarlett outleaped the defense to head home Sebastian Anderson's 21st-minute corner kick.
Out of reach: The hosts put the game away in the 83rd minute, when Michee Ngalina broke through the Sporting Jax offside trap and set up Emmanuel Samadia for a point-blank finish.
Quick free kicks: With the loss, Sporting Jax (3-17-5) cannot mathematically catch the team in the eighth and final playoff position, Rhode
Island FC (9-8-5). … Sporting Jax was outshot 11-1 in the first half and 21-11 for the game. … Goalkeeper Jake McGuire was listed as team captain. … Hartford committed 17 fouls to Jacksonville's 10, but Sporting Jax received all four yellow cards, handed out to Harvey Neville, Ryan Edwards, Ahmad Al Qaq and Kieran Sadlier.
Up next: Sporting Jax returns home to play Loudoun United at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Hartford shutout ends playoff chance for Sporting Jax men
