Hartford Athletic Head West to Take on Sacramento Republic
Still searching for consistency in attack, the Latics take on one of the Championship's best defensive sides
Last time out, the Latics suffered a heartbreaking late loss to Tampa Bay Rowdies, when an 87th-minute penalty gave the visitors the edge. Hartford had defended well following Beverly Makangila’s first-half red card and had created at least one excellent chance to get on the scoreboard but ultimately walked away empty-handed.
That penalty was the second time in three games that the Latics fell by way of a late goal and while that will have fans remembering last season’s late-game flaws, there’s a seed of a positive for the club this year as it marks a sharp change from the run of games where they went behind early. In fact, that’s three games in a row where Hartford has gone at least 80 minutes without conceding and while they have dropped two of those games - and it remains to be seen if this is a trend - it’s an improvement worth keeping an eye on.
Even if the defensive improvement proves to be real, the Latics are still not producing at the other end of the pitch. Only Pittsburgh has fewer than Hartford’s 13 goals so far this season and preseason expectations for a potent attack have failed to materialize with two highly-touted signings - Romario Williams and Enoch Mushagalusa - already out the door. No attacking player has managed to deliver truly consistent performances, with both Michee Ngalina and Deshane Beckford flashing at times and the failure to score continues to be the most significant problem for this side.
Saturday night’s opposition is a stern test for a Latics team that has not to truly click in any phase of the game. Sacramento currently sit second in the Western Conference - and have also made a run to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup - behind a defense that has conceded the fewest goals in the league. The stingy defense combined with eight goals from forward Trevor Amman (who set a League One scoring record last season) has made up for the injury-imposed absence of Russell Cicerone whose 44 goals and 17 assists over the last three seasons — split between Pittsburgh and Sacramento — are the best combined totals in the league in that span.
Following a very late-night affair - the game won’t even kick off until 11 pm EST - Hartford will stay out West and then travel to Loudoun for a quick turnaround and a Wednesday night game after which they’ll have more time to prepare for a visit from Charleston Battery that will close out the first half of the season.