Hartford Athletic begin their 2026 U.S. Open Cup campaign on Wednesday night, with a trip to Newark, New Jersey to take on FC Motown. It’s Hartford’s first-ever meeting with Motown, who field teams in both NPSL and USL League Two.
FC Motown earned their place as one of the top-performing USL2 sides during the 2025 season, where they won the Metropolitan Division with a record of 11 wins and one draw. In the postseason, they reached the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they went two goals to the good on eventual champions Vermont Green before eventually falling 3-2.
Like most USL2 clubs, Motown will not announce their roster for the season for some time, and they have not publicly announced a full roster for Wednesday's Cup clash. There are, however, a handful of players who have previously called both clubs home. Kenan Hot – who was on an Academy Contract with the Latics in 2022 and remains the youngest goalscorer in club history – has had stints with FC Motown both before and after his run with Hartford. Nii Armah Ashitey, who made 14 appearances for Hartford back in 2021, subsequently had a spell with the New Jersey club. And most recently, Anderson Asiedu, who played for the Latics in 2024, was rostered during their 2025 U.S. Open Cup loss to Westchester, although he never made it on the pitch.
This game marks a continuation of a grueling road stretch to start the season, as Hartford have already played back-to-back games on the road, and will do so again through the end of this week, before its home opener finally arrives on March 28.
Brendan Burke was especially happy with Hartford’s defensive showing in its first two league games, and singled out his team captain as a key driver of that success.
“I thought Jordan Scarlett earned his money over those two games, he showed his veteran leadership, his instincts, his natural ability," Burke said. "We gave away two shots on target at Birmingham, two shots on target at Jacksonville. That’s a recipe for success.”
With another two-games-in-four-days-on-the-road situation arriving, the Latics will play Brooklyn FC on Saturday night. Burke figures to rotate his squad heavily on Wednesday night in New Jersey.
Sadat Anaku and Andres Hernandez – who have so fair been relegated to substitute appearances – are likely in line to start as is fellow newcomer Christos Hadjipaschalis who has yet to make an appearance for Hartford. Even reserve goalkeeper Enzo Carvalho could be in line for a start as Burke does his best to keep his entire squad fresh through a challenging opening stretch to the season.
Galen Flynn and Jack Loura were both added to Hartford Athletic's roster on 25-day contracts. Flynn grew up in West Hartford and attended Kingswood Oxford School. He has had a varied college career, spending three years at Fordham, before transferring to St. Louis University, Clemson, and finally South Carolina. During the summers, he played for a variety of USL2 sides, winning the Metropolitan League in 2021 with Long Island Roughriders, the Mid-Atlantic Division with Ocean City Nor’easters in 2022, and the South Central Division with Asheville City in 2025.
Loura, a native of Cheshire, CT, spent his entire college career with UConn where in his senior season he was a team captain and led the team in minutes played. In 2025, he made eight appearances in MLS NEXT Pro for NYCFC II, two of them starts.
Spencer Gordon was also announced to be returning on an Academy Contract and is also likely to see the pitch as Burke navigates continued absences among his first-choice eleven, and a need not to overload other players with minutes in the early going. Gordon made his professional debut with Hartford in the U.S. Open Cup in 2025.
As for the Cup itself? Burke is skeptical that it’s the right competition for USL Championship clubs to target.
“It’s fool’s gold," he said. "You could go deep on a Cup run, and end up with nothing. You might get a home game against an MLS team, that’s about the best you can hope for. What [former Sacramento Republic manager Mark] Briggs did is great. What you see more often is that guys deplete their squad.”
Briggs took Sacramento Republic to the final in 2022; the first club from outside MLS to manage that feat since Charleston Battery in 2008.
That doesn’t mean that Hartford is writing off the Open Cup, but Burke’s priorities are with the league and the USL Cup.
“Don’t misunderstand me, we’re going there to win the game, and we want to progress, but the way we manage minutes is dictated by Brooklyn," Burke said. "We have chance to pick up points in three games on the road to start the season.”
In their short history in this competition, Hartford have never actually won a road game in the Cup. In 2019, it lost 4-0 to fellow USL Championship side Memphis 901. In 2023, it lost 2-1 to the New England Revolution and last season, they lost on penalties to USL League One newcomers Portland Hearts of Pine.
On the other hand, Hartford have also never lost to amateur opposition in the Cup. In 2019, it defeated New York Cosmos B of NPSL 2-1, in the only game the club has ever played at the University of Hartford’s Al-Marzook Field. Hartford also has wins over Oyster Bay United (UPSL, 3-1 in 2022), Lansdowne Yonkers (EPSL, 3-0 in 2023) and NY Shockers (NPSL, 3-0 in 2025).
For Burke, it’s about balancing advancing in the Open Cup with getting things in order for the long haul of the season.
“We have to focus on what’s in front of us, and how we get the team right," he said. "When we’re at full strength, I think this is the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here. That’s asking a lot of the guys. The reality is, we need to be hyper focused.”
