Defending USL Champions Come to Hartford for Friday Night Clash
Defending USL Champions Come to Hartford for Friday Night Clash
Hartford Athletic welcome Phoenix Rising as both teams struggle to salvage their seasons
Hartford Athletic welcome Phoneix Rising to Trinity Health Stadium for their last Friday night game of the season, with the home side in desperate need of points to avoid losing touch with the playoff places in the Eastern Conference.
Last week, Hartford kicked off the second half of the season in the same way they ended the first half as they found themselves playing from behind on the road inside ten minutes yet again. Poor defending allowed Pittsburgh to score twice more before the 25th minute and although Mamadou Dieng pulled one back before halftime, a team that isn’t built to play from behind was once again unable to muster much of a fightback.
The Latics have also been a much different team at home compared to their woeful road form. Four wins, two draws, and three losses are respectable enough and in the last five home games, Hartford has matched up well when both sides have eleven men on the pitch.
Dropped points against both Tampa Bay and Charleston after undisciplined sendings-off have soured what might otherwise be an encouraging run of form at home and the Latics need to maintain control and stay at full strength on Friday night.
Phoenix might be the defending champions but the squad is radically different from the one that won the title in 2023. Manager Juan Guerra departed to be an assistant with Houston Dynamo in MLS and was replaced by assistant Danny Stone.
Leading scorers Danny Trejo and Manuel Arteaga - who each topped 15 goals - are both gone as are other key contributors like Eddie Munjoma and Carlos Harvey. Remi Cabral has come in on loan from Colorado Rapids, and the Rising also landed highly-rated prospect Pape Mar Boye but the turnover did suggest there might be some struggles to start the season.
Rising have struggled - they currently sit just outside the playoff spots in the Western Conference - but have hardly collapsed which made their decision to part ways with Danny Stone at the end of June all the more surprising. It’s proved unpopular with fans, as has the apparent benching of playmaker Panos Armenakas. Rumors are swirling about off-the-field problems with the club, and though they got a 2-0 victory over El Paso last time out, they arrive in Hartford very much out of sorts.
The Latics have not been great at home, but they’ve played competitive football at Trinity Health Stadium and have shown flashes of promise, including in the first half of their last home game against Charleston. With Phoenix being a poor road team - their only win on the road so far this season is against Rhode Island - there’s a desperate need for the competitive version of Hartford to show up and secure three points in a winnable fixture.