Hartford Athletic Complete Two-Game Homestand With Visit From Detroit City
A quick turnaround for the Latics on Grateful Dead night at Trinity Health Stadium
Hartford Athletic welcome Detroit City to Trinity Health Stadium for a rare midweek matchup. The Latics have never beaten Detroit in four previous attempts, having lost three and drawn one of their previous four attempts.
Friday was another frustrating night in front of goal for Hartford, who were shut out for the 8th time this season and have scored only 16 goals so far this season, a return that is joint-worst in the league. A brief cameo for Kyle Edwards at the tail end of the Phoenix game might portend more minutes for the striker as the Latics search for any way to break through and start finding the back of the net with some consistency.
While the attack continues to be punchless, there are some signs that the defense is - at least at home - turning a corner of some kind. Since Mark Doyle scored in the 4th minute for Rhode Island FC on June 1, the Latics have not conceded a goal at home while at full strength, keeping clean sheets against Pittsburgh and Phoenix and only conceding to Tampa Bay and Charleston after going down to ten men. Performances on the road have yet to follow suit, but the defensive showings at home have been encouraging, and a continuation of this against Detroit will be another step in the right direction.
On the other side of the pitch on Wednesday is a team that has also been struggling to score. In four games so far in the month of July, Detroit has scored only two goals. Their power outage is all the more surprising, given that they scored eleven goals in five games in June. The only player who has consistently been on target for City is Maxi Rodriguez and the recent failings in attack might partially explain their decision to acquire former Latic Jeciel Cedeno from Oakland Roots as they also search for some kind of spark.
Much like the last contest against Phoenix, this is an excellent opportunity for Hartford to pick up three points at home, and if they are to mount any kind of threat to the playoff places in the second half of the season, it’s three points they really need to have. Manager Brendan Burke emphasized urgency when speaking to media this week, and urgency is exactly what this team needs to show.