Hartford Athletic close a busy week by hosting Brooklyn FC on Saturday night at Trinity Health Stadium. The Latics will be looking to snap a five-game winless streak, with their last victory coming almost exactly a month ago, a 2-nil win over Sporting Club Jacksonville.

Wednesday’s draw against Charleston did confirm that Hartford will go to the USL Championship playoffs for the second consecutive season, but there’s an understandable sense around the club that it’s not enough. Manager Brendan Burke emphasized this when speaking to The Blazing Musket on Friday.

“When you’re in back-to-back finals, the expectation level goes up," he said. "We talked about that. We had a frank conversation with the team on Thursday and just said ‘good job,’ but you know, the expectations in this building and outside this building have grown and rightfully so. We've earned that.”

A home playoff game is out of Hartford’s hands right now, but to have any chance of securing one, they need to take care of business in their remaining two games, starting with Brooklyn on Saturday night. Hartford have taken all three points in both previous meetings, a 2-1 victory in the league and a 2-nil triumph in the USL Cup group stage. Four different Latics found the back of the net in those games, including Samuel Careaga, who might return to the pitch for the first time in four months on Saturday night.

Careaga was available on Wednesday, but according to Burke, the way the game played out meant that he stayed on the bench.

“We wanted to get him in the game on Wednesday, Burke said. "It just didn't call for it. He was just the victim of circumstance. So we are going to try to get him in this game.

There’s no doubt that the midfielder’s absence has been keenly felt as Hartford have struggled to replace his qualities in the attacking third. “He’'s an elite attacking player,” said Burke. "When you look at quality and choice of entry pass, the way he can disguise the pass, the fact that he's a very heavy goal scoring midfielder when he's in form. He's just a completely different element for us.”

That’s a different element that Hartford will certainly need, regardless of where it will play playoff game(s). And the circumstances on Saturday night might be more favorable than Wednesday, with Brooklyn only held off the bottom of the Eastern Conference by hapless Sporting Jacksonville.

Brooklyn have won just four games in the USL Championship this season, and just one since the beginning of July - a 4-1 victory over basement dwellers Sporting Jacksonville. That’s just one win in the last 13 games, and they’ve been outscored 30-12 over that stretch.

Part of their problem has been the departure of leading scorer Markus Anderson, who was recalled from loan by his parent club, Philadelphia Union, at the beginning of September and then loaned to Lyngby BK of the Danish Superliga. During his time with Brooklyn, Anderson had 10 goal contributions (six goals and four assists) in 15 games. Of Brooklyn’s remaining players, only Stefan Stojanovic has scored at least four goals, and he hasn’t found the back of the net in the Championship since mid-June.

“It's always going to impact you,” said Burke of Brooklyn's loss of Anderson, “Especially on the attacking side of the ball like that. Having a guy that breeds confidence in other guys. I think back to Hadji Barry and Michee that one year, we just knew we were going to win almost every game that we walked into because those guys were so elite that year. And with Anderson being their leading goal scorer, I think that that can cause you to lose a little bit of confidence if you're one of the other players in that front four.”

Brooklyn’s other problem has been a rash of extremely poor defending, particularly on the road. Over the last five road games in the Championship, it has been outscored 17-1, giving up at least two goals in each game, and losing each of their last two road games by identical 4-nil scorelines. That presents a chance for Hartford to get an emphatic result, and Burke indicated that they will be aiming for just that.

"We're playing a little bit more of an attacking lineup in this game. We are going after goals.” The Hartford manager said. "You have to generate volume of opportunities so that they do make a mistake. You hope it happens early, but you have to generate volume of opportunities to ensure that they do break down at some point.”

This game might not present the stiffest challenge for the Latics - although there are no easy games in the Championship at this point - but there’s still plenty at stake. In addition to the slim chance of a home playoff game, there’s the question of who will play in that game, wherever it’s played, something Burke emphasized on Friday.

“We said to the guys after the Wednesday game, you're playing to audition for the playoff game, he said. 'Now if you get the opportunity to get on the field, it's an audition for the playoff game. So the energy level should be super, super high. That's our expectation.”

One player who does not need to audition for a playoff game is keeper Antony Siaha, who is in the middle of the best season of his career and has firmly established himself as one of the best - if not the best - keeper in the USL Championship. But for Siaha, the competition isn’t with other keepers around the league, it’s always with himself. “Every year, you want to just do your best,” said Siaha to The Blazing Musket on Friday, “Honestly, I don't really try to compete with anybody. It's me versus me, every year. So as long as I do better than what I did the year before, I'm happy with that.”

As for what is better for Hartford’s number one this year, it’s not so much about the measurables - Siaha says he’s “not really too much into stats” - it’s about the mental side of things. In 2025, Siaha got attention around the league for his personality, but this year, he’s trying to be more contained. “You know, like the big thing last year, I was playing a lot with my emotions,” said Siaha, “I had to calm down a little bit because I got too many yellow cards last year.”

A big part of that change has been Hartford’s goalkeeper coach Dan Gaspar, whom Siaha referred to as “a father figure, friend, mentor, you name it.” It’s not uncommon to see the two deep in conversation during Hartford training sessions, and the connection between the two has helped Siaha go from a very good keeper to one of the best in the league.

And that shows on the pitch in more ways than how Siaha manages his emotions. The truth is that while he might not be into stats, but the stats are into Siaha in a big way. No keeper in the league has been a bigger asset to his team by any number of measures. For example, American Soccer Analysis records that he’s saved Hartford 13.3 goals over expected, the best mark in the league. His save percentage is third in the league, and only three keepers have conceded fewer goals per game. The last stat is a team stat for sure, but Siaha has played a bigger part in Hartford’s defensive success than most keepers, averaging nearly a save per game more than any of the other players who have such an excellent goals against average.

Siaha probably won’t be asked to do too much on Saturday night - Brooklyn are averaging the fewest goals per game in the entire league - but Hartford can always take comfort from the fact that whatever he is asked to do, he will be up for the challenge. And the whole team will need to follow that example to finish this season with positive momentum as the playoffs arrive.