Hartford Athletic Renew Rivalry with Pittsburgh Riverhounds in USL Championship Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
The Latics are hoping to add more silverware in the 2025 season as the playoffs get underway
Hartford Athletic return to the USL Championship playoffs for the first time since 2020 as they take on Pittsburgh Riverhounds in a first round matchup at Highmark Stadium on Saturday night. In Hartford’s only previous playoff trip - during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season - they gave a good account of themselves against Saint Louis FC before falling 1-0 on a Joaquín Rivas strike deep in second-half stoppage time.
Hartford manager Brendan Burke emphasized the difference between that 2020 season and now: “[This is the] first time in a full season to be making the playoffs with everyone in the table available. So really it’s another big first for the club and it’s it’s a great feeling. We finished just one place, not even one point, but one place out of the home playoff positions. So we have something to push for next year, but we still feel like we can go and win this thing.”
For the Latics, winning this thing is also a quest for more silverware. Hartford have already lifted the USL Jägermeister Cup, defeating Sacramento Republic in the final on October 4th. That reality - that Hartford would enter the playoffs with a trophy already in the cabinet - seemed unthinkable in the early months of the season, when they were struggling for points and languishing at the bottom of the table.
But now they’re here - courtesy of a red-hot run of form across the summer that saw them vault as high as third in the Eastern Conference, before sliding back slightly - and they believe they can go further. Joe Farrell, whose 15 USL playoff appearances are the most of any player in this squad, emphasized the opportunity in front of the squad, and their belief that they can seize it: “You know, playoffs are a new competition. It’s it’s a four-game tournament and if you win all four, you get to lift two trophies. So at this point this season, we’ve been training together, working together for nine months and we have one last month. And if we can focus and put our best foot forward, we can walk away with three trophies on the year. And I think that’s the belief in this this locker room”
And that belief is there even though they will have to do it the hard way, by going on the road. Burke pointed to the Jägermeister Cup triumph, which involved key road wins, as proof that Hartford can get it down away from Trinity Health Stadium: “We know we can show up on the road in big games. San Antonio points to that and Sacramento points to that. Those are two very difficult places to go and win games, never mind knockout games. So we have the utmost confidence in ourselves to go and execute wherever we’re asked to.”
‘Wherever they’re asked to’ is against Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Highmark Stadium. In the last meeting between the two clubs, the game finished in controversy, with allegations that a Pittsburgh player had directed a racist comment towards Hartford midfielder Marlon Hairston. An investigation by the league was unable to substantiate the allegations, but that didn’t stop the two teams - and the players involved - from fanning the flames on social media. That history heightens the drama around this fixture, which might consequently be the most intriguing - and most intense - of the first-round games in this year’s USL Championship playoffs.
Burke played down the added drama, but also emphasized that his team was ready for a battle: “You don’t need extra motivation or extra energy when it’s one and done. You know, we’ve worked very hard all season. These players have put in an absolute tremendous amount of work to get us to this point, so I’m sure we’re going to be up for it. It’s about being disciplined, making sure that we finish the game with 11 players on the field and you just want to win on the scoreboard. That’s the only thing that matters at the end of the day.”
For Pittsburgh, there’s the added complication that they are also now without longtime manager Bob Lilley, who was placed on administrative leave by the club on October 10th. Despite rampant speculation on social media, no firm information regarding the reason for the action has come to light. Regardless of the reason, it adds another wrinkle Pittsburgh team that is trying to turn regular playoff appearances into playoff success.
While the Hounds have made the playoffs in what is now eight consecutive seasons, they have just two wins to show for it to this point, and have never advanced beyond the second round. Even in 2023, when they claimed the Player’s Shield as the best regular-season team in the league, they were bounced from the playoffs in the first round by Detroit City.
It’s a reminder for both clubs that playoff soccer often isn’t pretty, and that all that matters is winning. For Farrell, that’s just fine: “It doesn’t matter what it looks like, doesn’t matter if it takes 90 minutes, doesn’t matter if it takes 120 minutes, or 120 minutes plus penalties. Our only focus is walking off that field in Pittsburgh, moving on to the next round.”