Hartford Athletic Welcome New Mexico United to Kick Off Second Half of USL Championship Season
It's the fourth meeting all-time between the two clubs, both of whom entered the league in the 2019 season
Hartford Athletic return to USL Championship action on Wednesday night, as they welcome New Mexcio United to kick off the second half of the league season for both clubs. The kickoff time has been pushed back to 8 PM.
The last two weeks have been up-and-down for Hartford. A good road win over Detroit City kicked off a busy week for the club, who then dropped points to fellow cellar-dwellers Tampa Bay Rowdies on a late goal in a game that they largely dominated.
Hartford rounded that week out with a hard-fought draw in the first 2025 installation of El Clamico and then returned to Pawtucket a week later for the final group-stage encounter in the USL Jägermeister Cup. The Latics were down a goal and a man in that game but staged a late comeback to win on penalties and advance to the quarterfinals of the cup; some good news for a club that struggled for consistency through the first months of the Championship season.
In fact, both years of Brendan Burke’s tenure with the club have been marked by inconsistent first halves of the season. In 2024, the Latics had 17 points through their first 17 games (the USL Championship played a 34-game league schedule in that season). This year, they are slightly behind even that pace, with 13 points through 15 games.
In 2024, things were rather better through the second half, with Hartford racking up 27 points and heading into the last week of the season in control of its own destiny. A similar second-half performance will be absolutely necessary for the club to have any shot at making the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Last Saturday’s victory at Rhode Island and subsequent qualification for the next round of the USL Cup might provide a springboard into a stronger league performance in the second half if Hartford can find some consistency that has so far been sorely lacking. It will try to build on that after another quick turnaround, as the club hosts New Mexico United on just four days rest.
Short weeks have been difficult for Hartford in 2025, as a thin squad has struggled with injuries — Jordan Scarlett the latest to miss time — and provided little space for Burke to rotate his men and keep them healthy. Other than Jack Panayotou and a 25-day contract for Justin Ingram, there has seemed to be little appetite to make an addition to the squad to address the depth issue but Hartford did finally make another move in that department, adding USL Championship veteran Baboucarr Njie. The experienced Gambian — who has 127 appearances in the Championship, most recently with Oakland Roots — offers both depth and flexibility, both of which Hartford desperately needs.
Wednesday’s opposition, New Mexico United sit third in the Western Conference, although they have slid back a little of late, with only one win and four points in their last five league games.
Their attack has been effective without being truly overpowering, with the goals coming from a number of sources. Marlon Vargas (four goals and six assists in 19 games in all competitions) and Mukwelle Akale (three goals and eight assists in 20 games in all competitions) have been the most significant contributors, but there is enough variation in their attack to make it difficult to key in on any one player.
NMU come into this game following a scintillating finish to their final USL Cup group stage game, in which they scored twice in second-half stoppage time to force penalties against San Antonio FC and then won the shootout. With only eight points in the group, they were not in contention for one of the wildcard spots, but the result highlights that they are a team that can’t be counted out and with Hartford a side that has given up heartbreaking late goals, nobody in the stands at Trinity Health Stadium will feel comfortable with any lead that the Latics might be able to earn.