CHESTER, Pa. (September 1, 2019) – One goal in the first half from Michee Ngalina and another from Zach Zandi in the second half helped push 10-man Bethlehem Steel FC to a 2-0 victory. Philadelphia Union Academy forward Patrick Bohui made Steel FC history tonight, becoming the youngest player to start a match and goalkeeper Todd Morton made six saves to ensure the Steel kept their fifth clean sheet of the season.
The first half started out as a stalemate between the two sides as they both were trying to push for the early goal, but just couldn’t find too much luck. All that changed when Zach Zandi came dribbling through the midfield and got fouled hard by a Rangers defender right outside the box. Philadelphia Union forward Michee Ngalina stepped up, hit it with his right foot, curled it around the wall and into the bottom right corner past a diving Swope Park goalkeeper to go up 1-0. The goal was his fifth on the year and allowed him to add to his tally in back-to-back matches. Morton came up with a huge save in the 49th minute after Swope Park’s Ze Pedro found himself breaking free toward the goal. The shot came in and Morton dove to his left making the crucial save. The Boys in Blue were able to break through again in the 76th minute, when Issa Rayyan continued to find space along the right touchline, put a dangerous ball into the box where it found the feet of fellow-midfielder Zach Zandi. Zandi’s initial shot was saved, but he managed to get out of the scrum, dribble away from the goalkeeper and the Swope Park defense to put the ball into the back of the net. The West Chester, Pa. native notched his second of 2019 and pushed the Steel to a 2-0 lead and all three points.
Philadelphia Union Academy forward Patrick Bohui became the youngest player to start a match for Steel FC at 15 years, eight months and 29 days old, unseating Union Academy alumnus Michael Pellegrino (16 years, eight months, nine days) as the record holder. Bohui took one shot in the match and put in a solid 62-minute performance that included a lot of pressing runs that won’t show up on the score sheet.
Bethlehem Steel FC will travel to Cary, North Carolina to take on North Carolina FC in their next matchup on Saturday, September 7 at 7:00 p.m. ET. (7:00 p.m. ET | WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, N.C. | ESPN+).
RECAP:
Bethlehem Steel FC 2 – Swope Park Rangers 0
Talen Energy Stadium (Chester, Pa.)
Sunday, September 1, 2019
TODAY’S MATCH INFO:
Venue: Talen Energy Stadium, Chester, Pa.
Referee: Eric Tattersall
Assistant Referees: Tome Felice; Brian Marshall
Fourth Official: Joshua Encarnacion
Weather: 73 degrees and sunny
Attendance: 329
GOALS/ASSISTS
BST - Michee Ngalina (Unassisted) 36’
BST - Zach Zandi (Unassisted) 75’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
SPR - Felipe Hernandez (caution) 14’
BST - Michee Ngalina (caution) 33’
SPR - Ayyoub Allach (caution) 34’
BST - Jamoi Topey (caution) 39’
SPR - Rennico Clarke (caution) 82’
BST - Jamoi Topey (second caution; ejection) 84’
LINEUP
Bethlehem Steel FC: Todd Morton; Walter Cortés ©, Jamoi Topey, Steve Kingue, Nathan Harriel; Cole Turner (James Chambers 68’), Chavany Willis; Issa Rayyan, Zach Zandi; Michee Ngalina (Ben Ofeimu 86’), Patrick Bohui (Yomi Samuele Scintu 62’)
Substitutes not used: Lukas Burns; Shanyder Borgelin, Selmir Miscic, Axel Picazo
Swope Park Rangers: John Pulskamp; Killian Colombie (Mark Segbers 82’), Kaveh Rad, Jaylin Lindsey, Rennico Clarke; Felipe Hernandez ©, Wan Kuzain (Rassambek Akhmatov 59’), Ayyoub Allach; Ze Pedro, Wilson Harris, Ethan Vanacore-Decker (Jerome Ngom Mbekeli 68’)
Substitutes not used: Maximiliano Trejo; Tyler Freeman, Dylan Hooper, Tucker Lepley
TEAM NOTES
At 15 years, eight months and 29 days old, Patrick Bohui became the youngest player to ever start a match for Steel FC tonight. The Philadelphia Union Academy forward unseats the previous record held by Union Academy alumnus Michael Pellegrino who started a match when he was 16 years, eight months and nine days old.
Philadelphia Union forward Michee Ngalina netted his fifth goal of the season and has now scored in back-to-back games for the Steel. The mark makes him the club’s second best goal man in 2019, trailing only Faris (six).
Midfielder Zach Zandi notched his second goal of 2019, led the hosts in fouls won (four) and had a team-high passing accuracy, completing 93.1% of his passes.
Bethlehem Steel FC goalkeeper Todd Morton recorded his second clean sheet in just four matches with the side after making six saves against Swope Park, also picking up the first win of his Steel career.
Walter Cortés created havoc for the Rangers defense all night creating a team-high two chances, as well as a team-high three tackles. The Costa Rican defender wore the armband for the Steel, captaining the Pennsylvania club for the first time in his career.
Bethlehem Steel FC next faces North Carolina on Saturday, September 7 in Cary, North Carolina. (7:00 p.m. ET | WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, N.C. | ESPN+).
