Hartford Athletic Set to Take on El Paso Locomotive in 2025 Home Opener
The Latics are hunting for their first points of the 2025 USL Championship season
Hartford Athletic return to Trinity Health Stadium for their USL Championship home opener on Saturday afternoon, looking for a change of fortunes after back-to-back road losses to begin their 2025 league campaign.
The Latics will be hoping to see some combination of Adrián Diz Pe, Samuel Careaga, Kyle Edwards and Emmanuel Samadia return to the pitch over the coming week, which sees them play three games in eight days. Diz Pe’s absence was keenly felt in the loss to Pittsbugh with some of the Hounds best chances — including their goal — coming as a result of overpowering Hartford in the air. Diz Pe has historically been a better aerial defender than either Jordan Scarlett or Joe Farrell, and his return — which could come as soon as Saturday afternoon — will be significant. A thin roster will also benefit from the availability of Kyle Edwards, who figures to be a key option off the bench over the course of the season.
In their first two games, Hartford have struggled to generate opportunities in the attacking third, currently holding the lowest expected goals on a per-game basis in the entire league. The Latics have not been entirely bereft of opportunity — Mamadou Dieng forced a Pittsburgh turnover in a promising position inside the first minute last Saturday —but the chances have been few and far between. At least some of that is due to a midfield that has been, in Brendan Burke’s words, either “disconnected” or lacking in “fluidity,” through the first two games. With key offseason acquisition Samuel Careaga missing through injury, and Jonathan Jiménez yet to impact a league game in a significant way, there has been very little in the way of meaningful service for the forwards.
The forwards, though, are not blameless, with none of the first-choice front three of Dieng, Michee Ngalina, and Deshane Beckford able to place much of a stamp on the game through the opening weeks of the USL Championship. Ngalina in particular has looked off the boil and the Latics will need him to find his rhythm sooner rather than later as his dynamism is one of the club’s real weapons in the attacking third.
El Paso come into this game also winless on the season, having drawn two and lost one in its first three games. In The Locos season opener at home against Colorado Springs, they twice went behind and needed a goal in second-half stoppage time to secure a point. The following week against Phoenix, they squandered leads of 2-0 and 4-1 to end up drawing 4-4 in a game that featured two nominees for Goal of the Week. Amando Moreno’s bicycle kick — his second goal of the game — put his team up 4-1, but was topped by Mohamed Traore’s effort from inside the center circle which earned a point for the visitors. Locomotive did get a 5-1 win over amateur side Harpos FC in the U.S. Open Cup, but then squandered good chances as they lost 1-0 to New Mexico when league play resumed last weekend.
While Hartford has historically struggled on the road, Trinity Health Stadium has often seen better results — including in 2024 — when the Latics had the sixth-best home record in the USL Championship. Their seventh league home opener could not come at a more opportune time as Hartford aims to get its season on track in front of the home fans.