Hartford Athletic Drop Season Opener in Lexington
The Latics fail to get a shot on target as they fall by two goals to nil
Hartford Athletic dropped its 2025 season opener on a cool night in Lexington. The Latics failed to muster a shot on target and looked flat and out of sorts as the hosts won their USL Championship debut comfortably.
Despite the ultimate result of the game, it was Hartford that had a good early chance that was skied by Deshane Beckford. The Latics were otherwise largely on the back foot through the opening ten minutes and were given plenty of warning that the hosts meant business. After failing to properly clear their lines on a couple of occasions, Hartford were made to pay when a bouncing ball found its way to Joe Hafferty on the edge of the box, and the defender ripped a brilliant shot into the upper corner to give the home side the lead.
Michee Ngalina probably should have equalized in the 12th minute. Mamadou Dieng flicked the ball on to put Ngalina in behind, but he couldn’t properly control the ball and fired well wide. It was symptomatic of the night for the Latics who did not seem to have the cutting edge they will need to make an impact in the Championship this season, with far too many heavy touches and loose balls ceding possession or causing attacking opportunities to sputter out.
Lexington, on the other hand, were finding it just a little too easy to get the ball into dangerous areas and the hosts put a number of balls into the box without quite finding the right one to extend their lead. As the game ran past the half hour mark, they got a little more on target, but Antony Siaha was equal to the task on a couple of occasions and kept his side within touching distance up to halftime.
Early in the second half, Hartford had a great chance when Deshane Beckford skipped into the box from the right-hand side, setting himself up to shoot from a promising position. His shot was deflected just wide of the bottom corner of the net, and th
The Latics suffered a potential blow to their already-thin roster when defender Adrian Diz Pe was forced off with an injury in the 55th minute, to be replaced by Joe Farrell. If the center back is forced to miss any time, Hartford will find itself really stretched at an early juncture of the season.
Lexington continued to ratchet up the pressure as the second half progressed, and substitute Eliot Goldthorp sealed all three points for the hosts with a fast-break goal in the 79th minute, comfortably slotting the ball past Siaha.
The second half truly belonged to Lexington, who outshot Hartford 9-1 over that span, and easily could have had more than its two goals. The Latics were not without half-chances, but when they put the ball across the box on a couple of occasions in the latter stages of the game, there was nobody there to put it in the back of the net.
To add insult to injury, Emmanuel Samadia was sent off in stoppage time for an ill-advised shove on a Lexington player. Added to Diz Pe’s injury above, a pending one-game suspension for Samadia will give Brendan Burke very few options in defense when the Latics visit Pittsburgh in two weeks time.
Hartford can have few complaints about the result tonight. Lexington were the better team and fully deserved all three points. A lack of sharpness and quality doomed the Latics tonight, and they will need to show dramatic improvement in a short period of time. They next take the field against NPSL side New York Shockers in the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday, March 18th.