With Hartford Athletic finally getting the ball in the back of the net for the first time in over a month, here are three thoughts on a 2-1 win over Detroit City.
1 - Goals are good, but the attack still has some ways to go
Hartford scored twice but it was hardly a sudden return to the lethal scoring form it boasted in the second half of last season. In fact, on some level, it was hardly much of an improvement over where things had been in the preceding 30 days.
Last Saturday, for example, Hartford took 12 shots. In the preceding three league games, it had taken 12, 11 and 11. Five of those were on target, better than the one it had against Miami, but similar to the number managed against El Paso (5) and Loudoun (4). The Latics had 27 touches in the opposition box, much better than the El Paso loss but basically in line with their nil-nil draws against Miami (22) and Loudoun (27).
One area where things do seem to be trending upwards a little is the overall quality of the chances, with Hartford’s xG of 1.50 on Saturday (according to American Soccer Analysis) its best since March. In the three previous league games, Hartford’s expected goals had come in at 1.08, 0.80 and 1.32.
So this is an improvement, but not a huge one.
Hartford exceed 1.50 expected goals in 13 of 30 USL Championship fixtures in 2025 so the attack still remains some ways from where it was last summer. Reflecting on the game, Brendan Burke focused on the little things, rather than the big things, emphasizing the foundational building blocks of success.
“We dominated little moments in the game and that's what turns tight games. We were plus seven on throw-in retention. We won the set piece battle which ultimately was all three goals. I think just little moments when we're good at that, when we're good at the little stuff, we're hard to beat. We're really hard to beat.”
‘Hard to beat’ is not quite the descriptor Hartford is really looking for as it aims to improve on last season’s success, and there will need to be more fluency in the attacking third. Hartford have still not scored from open play since that 2-2 draw against Indy Eleven.
Nonetheless, the Latics were able to force the ball into the back of the net twice, a serious improvement over where things have been in the last few games, and it’s a reminder that it doesn’t always have to be pretty as long as the results are there.
2 - Defense continues to be the calling card in 2026
At the other end of the pitch, Hartford continued to be more than solid. Arturo Diz Pe’s own goal denied them a seventh clean sheet, but the Latics have now gone three games in all competitions without allowing an opponent to score a goal of their own. For team captain Jordan Scarlett, that’s an entire team effort:
“I think it's a top to bottom, bottom to top thing. When you get clean sheets, it takes all eleven guys, but big shout out to the defensive unit, the back five. I think those guys really put their body on the line. You know, Anto’s in the goal, and when he has to make a save, he does come up big for us.”
That team effort really requires consistency, and Hartford have mostly had that in 2026. Scarlett, Diz Pe and Britton Fischer have been absolutely rock-solid together, and it’s notable that Hartford’s worst defensive performance came when Matt Real was absent and Burke opted for Sadat Anaku at left wing-back instead of TJ Presthus.
