Hartford Athletic closes out its 2026 regular season by hosting Rhode Island FC in USL Championship action. It’s the fourth meeting of the season between the two clubs, with games in the USL Cup and U.S. Open Cup adding to the reverse league fixture played in Pawtucket earlier this summer.

The Latics have to shake off a bad loss to Brooklyn FC last weekend, a game that saw them lead 1-nil and 2-1 before losing 3-2, despite playing up a man after Anthony Fontana was sent off in the 73rd minute. The result leaves Hartford winless in six games in all competitions, and needing to regroup heading into not only this game, but also the playoffs.

“We've moved past it at this point. We know it's a huge disappointment,” said Hartford manager Brendan Burke when speaking to the media on Friday. “It was also a statistical anomaly. We had all the numbers run and if we were to play that game 100 times, we would lose it twice, given all the, circumstances. There were a few mistakes mixed in there. Obviously you can't concede three goals and a half and not look in the mirror. But we left me by my count, six clear goals on the table. So we just we found a way to lose an unloseable game.”

It’s the kind of game that Hartford have struggled to win this season, and finding goals has often been the culprit, including in the USL Cup final loss to Louisville City earlier this month. Following the Brooklyn loss, Burke had said that he “still doesn’t know who his best forward is,” and he reiterated that again on Friday.

“No one has emerged as the guy for us, right this year," Burke said. "There've been years past, like in MLS, where Hector Herrera was on fire for us [in 2023 with Houston Dynamo] and you didn't even have to ask that question. The fact that you have to ask that question kind of answers the question.”

And if Hartford can’t find someone to consistently step up in attack in key moments, it has to play mistake-free football at the other end of the pitch for 90 minutes, something else that was clearly missing in the Brooklyn loss. Burke pointed to the absence of team captain Jordan Scarlett, who has missed the last two games with an injury, as a key factor at that end of the pitch, while also forecasting a probable return for the playoffs.

“If Jordan plays in that game against Brooklyn, there's no way we ever lose that game," he said. "There just isn't. I don't see a way because his leadership, his communication level, his general energy for the game is quite different than almost anybody else in the group. And they're a very professional group, like I've said. So he's just elite at what he does; in how he prepares and how he focuses. So it's it'll be really important to get him ready for our playoff run.”

It’s unclear if Scarlett will also be available on Saturday night, but his return to the lineup should help erase some of the mistakes that have plagued the team of late. Since the team captain was subbed off at halftime of the Pittsburgh game two weekends ago, Hartford have conceded 5 goals in less than three games - something that will need to improve by leaps and bounds if the Latics are to avoid a second consecutive first-round playoff exit.

But there is one more game to play before the playoffs, and it’s another El Clamico. When the USL Championship schedule was announced, this game immediately jumped out as one that could have massive implications, and potentially give this rivalry one of its biggest games. Things haven’t quite played out that way; with Hartford and RIFC both dropping points last weekend, and Louisville winning midweek, the race for the last home playoff game is already over, and both teams are comfortably ensconced in the playoff places.

Some playoff positioning is at stake in this one. Either team could finish as high as fifth in the Eastern Conference or as low as seventh, pending the result between Pittsburgh and Birmingham, which will also impact the final standings. The most likely outcome is that Hartford will visit Detroit or Charleston in the first round of the playoffs, but there is a chance that they could get a fourth meeting with Louisville City as well.

Despite the stakes being lower than they could have been, Burke still believes there’s a lot to play for.

And with Hartford having lost all three previous meetings this season against RIFC (including a penalty shootout loss in the group stage of the USL Cup) and having just one regulation win in the rivalry over eight meetings in the past two seasons, there is some momentum to be gained from a win on Saturday night.

Burke also highlighted that it was only in that Cup game that Hartford fielded a strong side.

“I don't really know what we look like this year against them," he said. "I think tomorrow's the first time we'll actually get an idea of that.” 

And RIFC do look a little different from how they looked the last time they met, with forward JJ Williams having been transferred to Hearts of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership. Since his departure, RIFC's results have been somewhat mixed, although they have three wins and a draw in their last five matches, losing only to Detroit City.

It's a tough matchup. Hartford is on a skid; it's a rivalry game, and it's easy to get caught looking ahead to the playoffs. But Burke believes in his side, and believes in their ability to go toe-to-toe with the best the league has to offer.

“We haven't lost to anyone in the top three in the Eastern Conference this year," he said. "So we shouldn't fear anyone, that's for God damn sure.”