Hartford Athletic kicks off the eighth season of its existence with a trip to league newcomers Sporting Club Jacksonville.
As it does, Brendan Burke will be doing two things no Hartford manager has ever done before: entering his third season in charge of the club, and entering the season with silverware to defend. He also brings with him the core of last year’s club, alongside some new additions that include Augustine Williams, the second all-time leading goal scorer in the history of the USL Championship.
With the season literally around the corner – pending, of course that there is no work stoppage due to the ongoing CBA negotiations – it’s time to ask some key questions for the Latics.
Can the Latics avoid a slow start?
It’s the question on the mind of virtually every USL-watcher.
In 2025, Hartford stumbled right out of the gate, losing its first four league fixtures while conceding 7 goals and scoring just one. After a 1-0 win over Birmingham Legion briefly arrested the slide, the Latics then went winless in their next six fixtures (three draws and three losses) to leave them mired on just six points after ten games.
Obviously, things turned around after that – Hartford won 12 of their remaining 20 league fixtures, and also won the USL Cup – but there’s no denying that the situation in mid-June was dire.
The situation in 2024 was not quite so bad in the opening weeks of the season. Hartford won three of its first four league games that year, but it then collapsed, losing six straight games in all competitions, including blowout losses to Louisville City (6-0) and Indy Eleven (4-1). Again, Hartford was able to recover somewhat – it had hauled itself back into playoff contention by the last week of the season – but there’s a distinct pattern of placing itself in a hole with poor results in the early going.
It’s unclear how much better things might be in 2026. Hartford had two extremely poor showings in preseason matches, losing 5-0 to New York Red Bulls and 6-1 to New England Revolution. The results of other preseason matches, including against RIFC, were not publicly released, although in an interview on Thursday, Burke indicated that Hartford had won that game 2-0 with the starters for both sides playing 90 minutes.
In general, Burke described Hartford’s preseason preparations as choppy due to the availability of Hartford Athletic's training facility (Day Hill Dome).
That choppiness and lack of consistent preparation could certainly contribute to another slow start, something that Burke acknowledged, while emphasizing that his club is in a better position than in 2025.
“We might start a little slow," Burke said. "This year we’re in better health. I’m optimistic that we can overcome not being able to prepare exactly the way we wanted to.”
The club had also previously declined to comment on rumors that multiple players had experienced visa issues that had kept them out of the bulk of preseason preparations, something that would certainly affect the club’s readiness for Saturday’s opener. However, Burke confirmed that both Samuel Careaga and Emmanuel Samadia had experienced issues, and that while Careaga has now arrived and is in training, with respect to Samadia, “we’ve had all sorts of issues getting him in the country,” and that the full-back might not be fully available until April.
Even with everyone healthy and available, it could very well be another month or more before everyone is fully up to speed for the season, and the additional factors here – including a disrupted preseason – could spell another slow start for Burke’s team.
Did Hartford do enough to reload on defense?
In 2025, Hartford’s defense was reasonably good, conceding the 8th-fewest goals in the USL Championship while turning in an expected goals against that was almost exactly in the middle of the combined league table. However, there were some signs that things were not humming quite as nicely under the hood.
There was a yawning gulf between their expected goals against and the actual goals they conceded. The difference added up to nearly seven-tenths of a goal per game, a mark only bettered over that same stretch by Louisville City. At the same time, the Latics’ attack was so hot – top of the league by both expected and actual goals over that same stretch – that even without the luck they got at the defensive end of the pitch, they would likely still have ended up with the third-best record in the league from June 20 onward.
This all prompts two questions.
Firstly, can Hartford replicate its defensive success, and secondly, will it even matter if it can’t? Answering the first question obviously requires looking at the roster, where the news is somewhat mixed.
Hartford does return three defenders – Sebastian Anderson, Jordan Scarlett, and Emmanuel Samadia - who logged over 2,000 minutes in the league last season as well as Arturo Diz Pe, who topped 1,500 minutes. If you’re inclined to believe that Hartford’s defense was good enough last season, that’s an encouraging sign, and the continuity it provides can’t be understated.
At the same time, the back line is now without Joe Farrell, who logged over 5,000 minutes in all competitions over the last two seasons, with only loanee Britton Fischer coming in at center back. Additionally, the center of the defense is aging. Scarlett will turn 31 this summer, and Diz Pe just turned 32, with key rotational piece Baboucarr Njie also on the wrong side of 30, and coming off a significant injury as well. Matt Real - one of only two newcomers with significant USL Championship experience - can tuck inside at left center back in a back three, but more naturally projects at fullback, leaving Hartford dangerously thin - and aging - at the three positions in the middle of the back line. Burke emphasized that he believes the team has four starting-caliber center-backs for a three-back system, but a little more depth may still be needed to see out a long season.
As for the other half of the equation - can Hartford’s attack paper over any defensive shortcomings - it’s harder to say. A lot will depend on how quickly Augustine Williams beds in; if he hits the ground running and quickly forms a meaningful partnership with Michee Ngalina, all might be well. If he struggles for any reason, things could get hairy, particularly as the other true attacking options at the moment are the unproven Adewale Obalola and Sadat Anaku. Burke also indicated that his team are in the process of adding another forward whom they see as a much direct replacement for Mamadou Dieng, although it may yet be some time before that transfer is finalized - so it may not be until the summer before Hartford is fully clicking in the attacking third.
At the same time, Burke highlighted that one of the team’s objectives for this season is to be a top-two goalscoring team in the USL Championship. It’s a lofty ambition - but if it’s one that is fully realized, it may very well not matter if Hartford experiences some defensive regression.
Who is ready to make a leap?
One of the key questions heading into 2025 was whether or not Mamadou Dieng would take another step forward in his development. After a stuttering start to the season, he answered the question with a resounding “yes,” logging 12 goals in all competitions before earning a move to Minnesota United in August. The question in 2026 is not so much whether another player will earn a move to MLS - although either or both of Antony Siaha or Emmanuel Samadia certainly could follow Dieng in that direction - but who can step up and establish themselves as a high-level contributor in the USL Championship.
One obvious candidate is Sebastian Anderson, who probably did not receive nearly enough recognition for his contributions in 2025. All-league recognition passed him by, but he was arguably the best attacking fullback in the league over the course of the season - and in his age-24 season, he should be poised to take his game to another level. Hartford tend to prefer the Samadia-Ngalina combination down the left-hand side of their attack, but Anderson gives the Latics a legitimate threat on the other flank, and if he takes another step forward, he could produce a truly special season.
A second candidate is Samuel Careaga. In 2025, he had eight goal contributions in 32 games in all competitions, including the game-winner in the USL Cup final. It’s a respectable total, but with the Latics opting to permanently acquire him from Lanús and sign him to a mult-year contract, it’s clear that a little more is expected. Another player entering his age-24 season, he should also be entering the peak years of his career, and Burke emphasized that he expects Careaga to be “way, way more impactful at the start of the season.”
It’s difficult to evaluate the league newcomers - Sadat Anaku, Christos Hadjipaschalis, Andres Hernandez and Barry Coffey - and another returnee like Junior Moreira or Adewale Obalola certainly could break out as well. Burke in particular had high praise for Coffe, who he described as “really clean technically, really astute tactically,” and identified as one of the standouts of the new crop of players. Nevertheless, Anderson and Careaga seem the most likely candidates to move to the next level, and their ability to do so will hugely influence the course of Hartford’s season.
Where does Hartford fit in the East?
It’s been a topsy-turvy offseason in the USL Champtionship Eastern Conference. Virtually every team has seen a significant roster shakeup, including Louisville City, who were uncharacateristclaly subjected to inter-league raiding as they lost Philip Goodrum to Lexington. Even RIFC, who probably have the most overall roster continuity in the conference, saw the departures of Maxi Rodriguez and Albert Dikwa as Khano Smith seeks an attacking breakthrough in his third season at the helm.
With two new teams into the bargain - Sporting Jacksonville and Brooklyn FC - also joining the league, it’s difficult to have a great deal of confidence in saying exactly where Hartford might slide in. The best version of this team - like the one on display last summer - is absolutely a serious contender in the East. The worst version - the one that stumbled out of the gate in 2025, or had multiple six-game winless streaks in 2024 - will be a strong candidate to miss the playoffs.
Burke has confidence in his team, saying he “genuinely believes we are one of the most talented teams in the league” and there’s no denying that Hartford is packed with talent, and that they also have experience into the bargain. Even among the younger players on the squad, there’s little that will surprise them. Burke pointed to Junior Moreira, who, despite only turning 23 later this month, already has over 120 professional appearances between Mexico and the United States - and that’s just one among many. Hartford will field seven players with over a hundred USL Championship appearances to their name - headlined by Augustine Williams’ 252 - and that doesn’t include nailed-on starters like Antony Siaha, Samuel Careaga and Sebastian Anderson, all of whom have scads of experience to call on.
That experience - and a clear sense of identity - are the main things that will supplement Hartford’s talent in 2026. It might be a bumpy start to the season, but Burke is confident that the team has what it takes - and if this team can replicat the form they showed in the summer of 2025, the sky truly is the limit.
