Danny Barrera Named USL Championship Player of the Week

Marlon Hairston also named to the Team of the Week for Week 32

Photo Courtesy of Hartford Athletic

A superlative performance from Danny Barrera in Hartford Athletic’s 4-3 win over North Carolina FC saw him named USL Championship Player of the Week. He’s the second player this season - and in club history - to receive this honor following Renan Ribeiro.

Barrera was in top form on Saturday, scoring twice, assisting once, and setting up the fourth goal with a key pass to help keep Hartford’s playoff hopes alive. The goals were the 17th and 18th of Barrera’s long Hartford career — he’s now appeared in over 150 games in all competitions for the club — and the assist was his 33rd, both of which extend club records. 

Easily the club’s most decorated player, this is the sixth time that Barrera has been named to the Team of the Week since joining the club part-way through the 2019 season. He’s also the only player in club history to have been named an All-League selection when he was named to the first team in 2021.

Marlon Hairston received his first Team of the Week award, being credited with two assists. The veteran — who has previously made nearly 150 appearances in MLS — has been a key piece of Hartford’s recent run of form.

Barrera and Hairston are the 11th and 12th Hartford players to be named to the Team of the Week in 2024, by far the most times that has happened in a single season in club history (the previous record was six, in both 2021 and 2022). Four players — Michee Ngalina (three times) and Triston Hodge, Emmanual Samadia, and Mamadou Dieng (twice each) — have multiple Team of the Week honors, also a club record.

The Latics return to action on Saturday when they head on the road to take on FC Tulsa in yet another game with massive playoff implications.