Hartford Enters U.S. Open Cup On Wednesday Night
The Latics kick off their participation in the 109th edition of the domestic cup by welcoming NYCFC II to Trinity Health Stadium
Hartford Athletic enter the U.S. Open Cup for the fourth time in club history on Wednesday night, hosting NYCFC II of MLS Next Pro. The third-round clash is the first competitive meeting between the two clubs as NYCFC was not one of the MLS teams that fielded a reserve team in the USL Championship in previous years.
NYFC II are only appearing in this year’s edition as only eight MLS sides will compete in this year’s edition - a decision that has prompted criticism of those clubs for abandoning the history of the competition in search of more lucrative opportunities in the Leagues Cup and elsewhere. The decision also opens the door for USL Championship clubs; manager Brendan Burke - who was an assistant with Houston Dynamo as they won the cup last year - commented that this “presents an even bigger opportunity to go on a deeper run” and pointed to the deliberate construction of the roster with an eye towards managing both Cup and League competitions.
Hartford’s first Cup appearance in 2019 was also the first win in any competition in club history with Harry Swartz and Mads Jorgensen providing the goals in a 2-1 win over NPSL side NY Cosmos B in the only game the club has played at the University of Hartford’s Al-Marzook field. The Cup was not contested in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but when play resumed in 2022, the trend of the Latics getting their first win of the season in the cup continued. In that season, they had one point from three games but defeated amateur side Oyster Bay United 3-1 behind goals from Luka Prpa, Joel Johnson and Prince Saydee.
In 2023, Hartford had two points from four games when they entered the Cup and used an Elvis Amoh hat-trick to power past Lansdowne Yonkers FC, another amateur side. This season, the Latics have three wins from four games, giving them some momentum entering the Cup for the first time in club history.
The Latics return to action following a brief layoff, as they did not have a league game this past weekend. Last time out, a superlative performance from Deshane Beckford was the catalyst for a 3-2 win over Miami FC, with a late own-goal and a missed penalty by Romario Williams leaving the scoreline closer than the performance warranted.
“We dropped our guard a little bit,” said Williams when speaking to the media last week, “At this level, you’re always going to get punished.”
Maintaining intensity and focus in the second half has been a theme for this team so far this season, and fans will be looking for more progress in that regard sooner rather than later.
With a quick turnaround for Saturday’s league game against San Antonio FC, Burke will look to rotate his squad a little.
“We’re also going to give some opportunities to a few guys in the team that maybe haven’t started yet,” Burke said in Tuesday’s press conference, “We talk about having good depth in this roster, and having built it for depth, and we have to trust those guys now.”
This could mean more minutes for players like Enoch Mushagalusa - whose patience Burke praised following the Miami game - or season debuts for the likes of Danny Barrera or Joe Schmidt, both of whom have made the gameday roster, but have yet to appear.
As for Wednesday’s opposition, NYCFC II started their league season off slowly with a shootout win over independent side Chattanooga FC sandwiched between losses to NY Red Bulls II and Inter Miami II, before exploding in a 6-2 win over New England Revolution II in their most recent game. In the Cup, they own a 3-0 victory over NPSL side FC Motown and a 4-2 win over NY Red Bulls II. While this is undoubtedly a team that can score, with 16 goals in six games in all competitions, they also have a suspect defense, conceding eight goals and keeping only one clean sheet so far.
Forward Jonathan Jiménez has been the top performer for the Baby Blues in front of goal, scoring five times in five games in all competitions including a hat-trick in the second round of the Cup and a brace in Saturday’s league romp. Burke noted that Jiménez has been particularly deadly in transition, where he scored two of his three Cup goals, adding “we’ll look for him tomorrow night…so he doesn’t get sprung like he did against Red Bulls in the last round.”
The Baby Blue are far from a one man show too; midfielder Jonathan Shore has three goals, and Malachi Jones, Máximo Carrizo and Ronald Arévalo give the team no shortage of young, talented attacking options.
The forecast is for cooling temperatures with a small chance of showers late, but Hartford fans will be hoping the team continues to deliver in less-than-optimal conditions and delivers another win - and advances to the fourth round of the Cup.