FT. LAUDERDALE – Aly Alberto Hassan scored with four minutes left in regulation time to send the Fort Lauderdale Strikers into The Championship, the NASL’s four-team postseason tournament, with a 1-1 tie against Ottawa Fury FC at Lockhart Stadium.
The draw was enough for the Strikers to hold onto the fourth and final spot in the NASL Combined Standings after the Carolina RailHawks failed to defeat Minnesota United FC.
Hassan’s third goal of the season came just eight minutes after his 78th introduction into the match and sent the 5,505 fans in attendance into a frenzy.
The visitors took the lead in the 16th minute through Nicki Paterson. A defensive mistake from the Strikers allowed Tony Donatelli time and space in the box to pick out Paterson on the edge of the 18 yard box. The stand-in captain made no mistake with his shot, firing into the bottom right corner of the net to put the Fury in front.
Ottawa had a chance to double their lead just minutes later through Oliver, but his point-blank effort in the 25th minute was denied by the right foot of goalkeeper Kamil Contofalsky.
The turning point of the match came in the 54th minute when Ottawa’s Mauro Eustaquio was shown a red card following a high, studs-up tackle on Pecka. The send off reduced the Fury to 10 men while the Strikers were forced to substitute the injured Pecka.
In need of a goal, Strikers Head Coach Günter Kronsteiner brought on attacking players Jenison Brito and the eventual goal scorer Hassan.
The Strikers threw numbers forward and got their reward four minutes from time courtesy of a skillful finish from Hassan. A long ball from Shawn Chin was headed to the center of the box by Picault to Hassan. The striker controlled the ball in the air with his right foot, turned and unleashed a half-volley with his left foot into the back of the net to send the Strikers into the postseason.
