Hartford Athletic are back in action on Wednesday night, as they host Charleston Battery at Trinity Health Stadium.
The last time these two teams met, Hartford came from behind to take a 2-1 victory after Battery were reduced to 10 men following a Nathan Messer red card. It was only Hartford’s fourth win in 15 meetings between the clubs.
Hartford’s last game, a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday night, was a mixed affair. Out of the gate, Hartford hardly looked in the game, and an early concession gave the Latics work to do on a night when they seemed out of sorts. Things turned around before halftime, with Michee Ngalina scoring with the Latics' first shot of the game, and a brief spell of pressure could have seen them edge in front, but the chances went begging and the teams headed down the tunnel level.
In the second half, the game was more balanced, but it was the Hounds who found the back of the net a second time to take all three points, as Hartford dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Hartford now have to find their feet against one of the best attacks in the league, a real challenge after it conceded two to one of the weaker attacks the Eastern Conference has to offer. Charleston Battery are scoring nearly two goals a game on the season, and while both squads are in the middle of a busy week that will undoubtedly see them rotate with Saturday fixtures looming, their attack is deep and varied enough to pose a challenge to a Hartford defense that has become something of a question mark in recent weeks.
The Battery might have lost 2-nil to Louisville City at the weekend, but will probably feel that even a rotated squad should have taken all three points, as they spurned not one, not two, but three gilt-edged chances, while City made the most of more limited opportunities. And their rotation means that key contributors like Colton Swan, Nathan Messer and Maalique Foster have plenty of minutes left in their legs for this one.
Hartford are still in contention for a home playoff game, despite last weekend’s loss, but to make a push for one, two things need to happen. Firstly, it needs to tighten up the defense. After a strong start to the season, it has kept just one clean sheet in their last 14 games in all competitions, and that was against Sporting Jacksonville, the worst team in the league.
Antony Siaha continues to be excellent in net, but Hartford have made too many mistakes in front of him, serving up opportunities to their opponents that leave their keeper with no chance.
It’s a long season, and a lack of focus can affect any team, particularly one that has had to play so many games in so few days as Hartford have, but there’s a desperate need to regain some of that focus as the end of the season approaches. Results elsewhere mean that Hartford are overwhelming favorites to get into the playoffs. It has five points and a game in hand over Indy Eleven and three points and two games in hand over Miami, who are currently scrapping for the last playoff spot, but backing into the playoffs because everyone else loses is hardly encouraging. And with goals still not exactly abundant, particularly from open play, regaining their defensive focus is probably the shortest route to heading into the playoffs on firm footing.
But Hartford do also have to find some goals somewhere. Things have been far less dire of late than they were early in the season – the Cup final loss to Louisville was the first time in nearly two months that the Latics were held scoreless – but they’ve also been propped up by a run of penalties that is probably unsustainable. And at this late date, the Latics are unlikely to suddenly rediscover the fluid form of last summer, so the attention turns to individuals to step up and take chances.
And individuals have certainly missed their moments. After the Cup final, manager Brendan Burke focused on how nobody showed up in the right areas to take advantage of good service, and that was a problem again on Saturday in Pittsburgh. At this juncture of the season, there’s only so much a technical staff can do, and so it is down to individual players to take responsibility.
At the weekend, Hartford got another goal from Michee Ngalina, his seventh of the season, but notably one that took him to 23 goals all-time for the club, tied with Mamadou Dieng for the most in club history. When Ngalina moved on to 22 goals a few weeks ago, he spoke about how a player always wants to “leave a mark” at a club, and the forward has certainly done so, but there’s a chance to leave an even bigger mark by being the one to deliver in these key moments down the stretch.
Hartford could also look to Barry Coffey, whose nine goals in all competitions lead the club, or Augi Williams, who could easily redeem a disappointing season with a couple of key goals over the next ten days. But whoever it is, someone needs to take responsibility for being in the right place, for trusting that the service will come, and capitalizing on the opportunities when they arrive.
It almost certainly won’t be pretty, but it doesn’t have to be. It just has to be effective. Hartford were effective without being pretty for most of an 11-game unbeaten stretch leading up to the Cup final, and now they need to find that again, but someone has to step up and lead the way.
