Hartford Athletic Conclude Busy Week With Visit to RIFC
The third installment of El Clamico is also the third game in eight days for the Latics, who are trying to recover from a tough midweek loss.
Hartford Athletic are aiming to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Tampa Bay Rowdies as they travel to Pawtucket for the first of two games in two weeks against local rivals Rhode Island FC. The midweek loss was a setback for a team that had won two league games on the bounce, and they were held scoreless for the first time since a 1-0 loss to North Carolina FC in early June after having scored eight goals in their last four games in all competitions.
Brendan Burke had some harsh words for his side after the loss — which he branded “unprofessional” — but he was in a more reflective mood ahead of the trip to Rhode Island.
“I was upset with our group walking off the field,” Burke said. “But when I look back statistically, I mean, Tampa had 45 clearances. That's two games worth. You know, our expected goals was 1.8, theirs was 0.2. I mean, it would take a miracle to lose that game if you played it 10 times and we found a way to lose it. So, you know, our performance is still there. We're generating, you know, multiple expected goals almost every time out.”
Generating chances is a huge improvement for Hartford, who were struggling to even get in a position to take shots in the early part of the season. Over the last four league games, the Latics have attempted at least 13 shots every time out, a dramatic improvement over the attack that was one of the most puncless in the league in March and April.
Failing to convert those chances has been the more recent problem. Even in a comprehensive 3-0 win over Loudoun, Hartford left goals on the table. While it didn’t matter on that night, it did matter on Wednesday, when the club spurned more than one gilt-edged chance and ended up failing to a late goal by Woobens Pacius.
The loss, which also interrupted whatever momentum the Latics had gained from back-to-back league wins over Loudoun United and Detroit City, also pushed them back to the bottom of the table in the Eastern Conference, in desperate need of points. With the halfway point of their league season approaching, Brendan Burke acknowledged that time is starting to run short for his men to turn things around.
“[W]e know our league position, even though we have a bunch of games in hand on the playoff line, we need to pick up points,” he said. “We we need to pick up points everywhere we go now.”
‘Everywhere we go now’ starts with a trip to RIFC whom Hartford has yet to defeat in the short history of the rivalry. In 2024, the first meeting between the two clubs finished as a 1-1 draw at Trinity Health Stadium, and RIFC cruised 3-0 in the return fixture.
Last season’s Eastern Conference champions have been in a funk lately, as they currently only sit 10th in the conference but with Hartford on its third game in eight days and the small squad still depleted by injury, the hosts will probably be the favorites.
Burke also highlighted the danger of the matchup for his side.
“[W]e know what we're walking into. They could explode on a team at any given moment,” he said. “You saw what they did to Portland and I think Portland are a pretty good team, you know, So we know that we're walking into the lion's den here and and it has all the bells and whistles, so everything's kind of going against us going into this game. So we band together and fight.”
The ‘bells and whistles’ are a combination of RIFC’s new stadium, which has one of the highest effective capacities in the league, the heated nature of the rivalry among the supporters, and the fact that Saturday’s game will be a national broadcast with CBS set to air the game. That brings attention — and extra obligations — but Burke wasn’t overly concerned about the effect all the hoopla might have on his team.
“We don't really worry about that crap,” he said.