Hartford Athletic Face RIFC in Saturday Night Derby
After a 1-1 draw at Trinity Health Stadium earlier this season, both sides will be looking for more
Hartford Athletic head to Smithfield, Rhode Island for a second ever matchup with Championship newcomers RIFC looking to sustain the small amount of momentum they’ve built up over a three game unbeaten run. It’s a testament to how difficult the last two years have been that the Latics are unbeaten in three games heading into Saturday’s clash for the first time in nearly two years.
Last time out against Birmingham, Hartford came from two goals down to secure a point for the first time since August 31, 2022. In that game, they came from 3-1 down to NYRBII, with Juan Carlos Obregon Jr and Rashawn Dally both scoring in injury time to secure a 3-3 draw. Last weekend, it was Mamadou Dieng and Michee Ngalina who recorded second-half goals to salvage a point on the road.
Whether this recent patch of results represents a real turning point in the season remains to be seen, but a result on Saturday night would give the Latics three consecutive results against teams currently in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. With the season dwindling down, every point is an important one, but those results against teams currently above Hartford in the table may come in handy if the club can turn this burst of results into something more sustained.
Before dropping a midweek fixture against Indy Eleven, RIFC had been unbeaten in eight games, a stretch that saw them pick up 18 points. The most impressive result in that stretch was a 5-2 win over Eastern Conference leaders Lousville City and despite Wednesday’s loss, RIFC now sit in 8th place in the conference, in the playoff spots and seven points above Hartford.
RIFC have struggled to turn draws into wins at home, recording six of the former and only two of the latter with both victories coming in their recent eight-game unbeaten run and one of those required a comeback after going behind to North Carolina FC. They’ve also been liable to either a slow start or a late collapse - something that will be familiar to Hartford fans - and despite their recent positive results there are points to be had here if the Latics can maintain some of the improvement they’ve shown in recent weeks.
With just 13 games this season, Hartford are fast running out of time to put together the run of results that might see them make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Three games unbeaten is a start but they will need to demonstrated that they can sustain the momentum by producing another result on Saturday.