HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Hub City FC’s debut in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) ended with a lopsided 7-1 loss to Arlington SA on Sunday at North Hagerstown High School, but the match was much closer early in the second half.
With Arlington leading 3-1, James Pele Sesay appeared to score his second goal of the game in the 57th minute, which would have pulled the Black Roses within a goal. But the play was ruled offside.
Moments later, Arlington’s Youssouf Barry scored at the other end.
It was that kind of afternoon for Hub City.
Arlington capitalized on its opportunities and pulled away late in Hub City’s home opener.
“At this level, if we don’t capitalize on our opportunities and we make one mistake, teams like this will punish you for it,” Hub City coach Michael Long said.
Sunday’s match was Hub City’s first completed game of the fall season. Its scheduled opener last weekend was stopped by a storm just minutes after it began and will be rescheduled.
The Black Roses found themselves in trouble almost immediately Sunday.
Malachy McGovern put Arlington ahead in the seventh minute, and Peter Mattocks made it 2-0 just four minutes later.
“The first two goals, we weren’t ready for the game to start. That’s just what it comes down to,” Long said. “We weren’t ready. We weren’t hungry.”
Hub City settled down after the rough start and worked its way back into the match.
Sesay broke free behind the Arlington defense in the 30th minute and beat the goalkeeper to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Matthew Carlin restored Arlington’s two-goal advantage in the 37th minute, sending the visitors into halftime ahead 3-1.
Hub City then came tantalizingly close to making it a one-goal game shortly after halftime.
Sesay found the net again, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Moments later, Barry scored to make it 4-1.
“It was just an unfortunate series,” Sesay said. “In the heat of the game, things happen, chances happen. We didn’t take our chances, and then they took their chances. That’s why they ended up winning the game. Today, they had the better team.”
From there, Arlington turned the match into a rout.
Barry converted a penalty kick in the 76th minute and completed his hat trick in the 85th. Giuseppe Meli closed the scoring in the 89th.
The difficult opener was the latest step in the inaugural year for Hub City FC, which went 2-1-7 (W-T-L) in its first National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) season this summer. The Black Roses last played July 1, nearly eight weeks earlier, and have undergone a significant roster overhaul since then, with many of their college players returning to school.
Long estimated Hub City added between 12 and 15 players for the fall. Weather and a shortage of available fields have compounded the challenge, allowing the new group to practice together only once before Sunday.
“If you take that into consideration, a brand new group of players, one training session, and we’re working on a specific shape and style of play that takes more than just one practice,” Long said. “But having said that, there were moments where we were doing it exactly how we wanted to.”
Hub City is competing in the DMV North Conference of the UPSL this fall. Long said the level of competition will remain formidable. While the relative strength of the UPSL and NPSL varies across the country, he considers the UPSL particularly strong in the Northern Virginia, Baltimore and Howard County region.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Long said. “I thought we played well in a lot of respects. We had a game plan that when we were sticking to it, it was working.”
The fall schedule consists of nine games and will also take Hub City to a new venue.
The Black Roses are scheduled to play a home game Oct. 10 at Meritus Park in Hagerstown after being approached by ballpark officials about bringing soccer to the facility. Long said Hub City previously discussed playing there during its summer NPSL season, but those plans did not materialize.
He hopes the upcoming match could open the door to additional games at Meritus Park next year.
“We were thrilled,” Long said. “If everything goes well that night, maybe we’ll get to play there more next year, which would be fantastic.”
For now, though, the focus is on getting a largely new group ready for the rest of its first UPSL season.
“There were positives, because when we were doing what we wanted to do, we looked good at it,” Long said. “Now we just have to grab more discipline and finish it all.”
