Hartford Athletic Try to Build Some Home Momentum as They Host Louisville City
One of the best defenses in the league comes to Trinity Health Stadium, posing yet more problems for the Latics' currently-punchless attack
Hartford Athletic closes a two-game homestand as they host Louisville City on Saturday night. The Latics have kept three consecutive clean sheets at Trinity Health Stadium in all competitions, with the most recent being a nil-nil draw against Detroit City last weekend.
The first half was particularly dire, as the Latics didn’t attempt a single shot. A change of tactics in the second half — taking a more direct approach — brought more joy as Hartford did attempt ten shots but failed to find the back of the net with manager Brendan Burke saying he felt like they left a goal on the table. Michee Ngalina and Jack Panayotou both went off with injuries in that game, and remain questionable for Saturday night’s fixture, leaving Burke with yet another selection headache.
Things don’t get any easier for Hartford’s ineffective attack, as Louisville City are another team with a great defense in the early going. Through its first eight games, Lou City has conceded only four goals, the lowest total in the league and rank among the league leaders by expected goals as well.
The reasons for this are a mix of talent, familiarity, and consistency. City’s first-choice back three of Sean Totsch, Kyle Adams and Arturo Ordoñez all played at least 2,200 minutes in 2024, but also are enormously talented: Totsch has been an all-league selection for five consecutive seasons, Ordoñez has won the same honor in the past two seasons (and was Defender of the Year in 2023), and while Adams doesn’t have the same individual accolades, he’s logged almost 16,000 regular-season minutes for four different clubs over the last nine seasons, including five consecutive playoff appearances in his time at San Diego Loyal and now with City.
At the other end of the pitch, Louisville has been strong without quite hitting the heights of its previous campaign. In 2024, Lou City were lethal in attack, scoring 86 goals over the course of the year. So far this season, they’ve scored two goals on six occasions in all competitions but have never gotten the third goal, and arrive in Hartford on the back of having been shut out twice.
The most obvious difference for City is the loss of Wilson Harris, now playing in Israel, as they have not yet found a proper replacement for the prolific forward. Ray Serrano leads the club with three league goals on the season, but he hasn’t found the back of the net in the Championship since March, and no other player has stepped up to give City a consistent scoring punch.
Obviously, anything can happen in the game of football, but given the circumstances, with Hartford fielding a depleted attack that has yet to click even when everyone is available and Louisville boasting an almost water-tight defense through the first quarter of the season, another nil-nil draw might be one of the best-case scenarios for the home club. A point would be a good result given the current gulf between the two sides, and would give Burke’s side some much-needed momentum as the season moves into its next quarter.