Fort Lauderdale CF earned its first win of the 2021 USL League One season, defeating South Georgia Tormenta 0-1 at Eagle Field at Erk Russell Athletic Park with a strike by forward Shaan Hundal.
Fort Lauderdale kicked off the match with one change to its starting XI from the previous game; with Argentine midfielder Roberto Poplawski registering his first start of the campaign.
The visitors started the match on the front foot, with Fort Lauderdale opening the scoring in the 23rd minute of play. The play began with the team’s defense clearing the ball after a Tormenta free kick, followed by a swift counterattack attack started by midfielder George Acosta, who slotted a defense-splitting through ball to leave Drew Hardin with open space in the final third of the pitch. Hardin drove up field before facing Tormenta’s goalkeeper in a one on one situation, who then passed the ball over to Shaan Hundal on the left side inside the box for the forward to finish off the play with a right-footed shot to send the ball to the back of the net and give Fort Lauderdale an early 0-1 lead. It was Hardin’s first assist of the season and first assist as a professional and Hundal’s first goal for Fort Lauderdale.
In the 25th minute, Fort Lauderdale made its first substitution, with midfielder Braxton Najib coming on for Harding on the right wing in attack.
Fort Lauderdale continued to press in the second half, with several goal scoring opportunities throughout the half. Some of the best chances included a shot by Hundal inside the box that was just wide of the right post in the 61st minute of play and a long range effort by defender Noah Allen that went out just above the crossbar in the 75th minute.
The visitors made two further substitutions in the second half, with Cesar Cuellar replacing goalscorer Hundal in the 73rd minute and Francisco Raggio coming on for Abel Caputo in the 86th minute to close out the match.
In the end, the scoreboard didn’t change in the second half and Fort Lauderdale claimed its first three points of the season.
Next up for Fort Lauderdale is an away match against North Texas SC at Globe Life Park on Saturday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
