Hartford Athletic Slump to Defeat Against Colorado Springs Switchbacks

Latics held scoreless yet again in lackluster home performance

Photo Courtesy of Hartford Athletic

A performance from Hartford that Latics manager Brendan Burke branded as “unacceptable” led to the team’s fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions, with a large home crowd witnessing a continued power outage from a highly touted attacking unit. Hartford has been held scoreless for over three games now, with their last goal coming in the first half of a 3-1 defeat to San Antonio on April 20th.

After showing great energy from the first whistle in the opening stretch of the season, the last few games have been a different story for Hartford as they entered Saturday night on a run of three games where they were quite flat in the first half. That continued against Colorado Springs as they failed to impose themselves on Switchbacks and ultimately managed only two shots in the first forty-five minutes. 

The first twenty minutes were a scuffle for both teams, with the best chance for either side coming via a Romario Williams free kick that just went outside the post. Colorado Springs had not managed a single shot until Yosuke Hanya tried his luck from a difficult angle in a transitional opportunity and fired the ball past Renan Ribeiro to open the scoring.

Switchbacks were largely on top for the remainder of the first half and a smart save from Ribeiro was required in the 42nd minute to prevent Zachary Zandi from doubling the lead. Hartford did not manage to threaten in the closing stages of the first half, and the teams went into halftime with the score still 1-0 to the visitors.

The Latics followed their pattern of the last few games in the second half as well opening, with better energy and producing some good opportunities but ultimately failing to capitalize. Perhaps the best of these came in the 57th minute when Williams hit the bar with the follow-up header from Deshane Beckford being saved off the line. Ten minutes later, Joe Farrell went close with a header following a corner but Hartford was still unable to find the back of the net.

For another ten minutes, the score remained the same until Yosuke Hanya won a penalty in the 80th minute which was converted by Ronaldo Damus, who recorded his fourth goal in the last four games. Neither team troubled the scorekeeper throughout the remainder of regular time and six minutes of stoppage time as the Latics fell to defeat once again.

Hartford will head on the road next week, looking to stop the bleeding with a trip to Indy XI before returning to Trinity Health for a two-game homestand against Monterey Bay and Rhode Island FC.