Hartford Athletic Kick Off June Schedule With Visit From North Carolina FC
The Latics are unbeaten in their last four games as they continue to try and turn their season around
Hartford Athletic return to action on Friday night as they host North Carolina FC at Trinity Health Stadium. The Latics host NCFC for the first time since the last home game of the 2024 season where Danny Barrera — in what proved to be his final home game for Hartford — recorded two goals and an assist while setting up the fourth on his way to earning USL Championship Player of the Week honors. Hartford held off an NCFC fightback in the second half to win by the odd goal in seven and take all three points.
After a sluggish start to the season, which saw the Latics lose five of their first six games, they have somewhat turned things around, claiming results in six of their last seven, and being unbeaten in four straight.
Defensively for Hartford, the difference between home and away has been stark. On the road, it has conceded 16 goals in seven games, including twice being tagged for four goals but at home it’s been rather a different story as it has conceded just three goals in six games, and have kept four clean sheets.
It will get more challenging to maintain that home record later this month with visits from two of the top scoring teams in the league in Loudoun and Charleston, but NCFC are a perfectly average attacking side so far roughly on par with the Louisville and Detroit teams that the Latics limited to a single goal last month.
In attack, the Latics will be without the services of Kyle Edwards, who has been a key contributor over the last few weeks with three goals and an assist in the last three games. Edwards is on international duty with St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as they continue their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign with CONCACAF qualifiers over the next week. He’s already scored in their 6-0 win over Anguilla, and his side will take the pitch again on Tuesday against Puerto Rico.
With Edwards absent, Hartford will look elsewhere for a spark on Friday, with Mamadou Dieng shaking off a slow start and rounding into better form. The forward had two goals and an assist last week — including the winner against Westchester — and his hold-up play was critical in setting up two Samuel Careaga goals.
The Argentine midfielder is another player who, having finally found the back of the net — and won USL Jägermeister Cup Player of the Round honors over the weekend — will be counted on to produce more regularly. Finally, the Latics will hope to see the return of Michee Ngalina and Jack Panayotou in the near future, with Ngalina the more likely of the two to be available on Friday night.
NCFC are in good form — having won four of their last five — with the only blemish being a loss to Charlotte FC of MLS in the U.S. Open Cup. Their two road losses in the Championship have been to Miami FC — far from embarrassing result given that club’s performances in the early going — and to Western Conference leaders New Mexico United. They also own road wins over Pittsburgh and Tulsa, and came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw against Indy Eleven.
It’s a tough test for Brendan Burke’s men who will need to continue their strong defensive performances at home and also hope that the attacking form they discovered on the road last week can continue. They desperately need to pile up some more points and keep themselves in touching distance of the playoff places.