Joe Rice Earns USL Championship TOTW Honors

The former New England Revolution II shot-stopper made seven saves and recorded his second clean sheet in Green and Blue against Las Vegas on Saturday.

Image courtesy of Hartford Athletic

For only the second time in 2023, Hartford were able to take all three points on the road in a 2-0 victory against the Las Vegas Lights on Saturday.

Although far from perfect, the performance saw Hartford earn only their third clean sheet of the season, largely thanks to a season-high seven saves from goalkeeper Joe Rice. The performance was enough earn him the nod in this week’s USL Championship Team of the Week.

The last time Rice kept a clean sheet was a 0-0 draw with Louisville City at Trinity Health Stadium in early June, in what was his first start for Hartford. He did not record a save in the draw, but this time around, the shutout was far less comfortable. He faced a total of 24 shots on the night, eight of which were on target.

While Rice said he was happy to have been given the honor, he emphasized the result on the weekend as the most important takeaway from the win.

“[I am] happy for myself, happy for the team,” Rice said. “You can’t shine a light on one person, it’s all eleven guys out there…I was not seeing it coming, to be honest I kinda stay away from that kind of stuff, but happy to hear [it].”

Rice is the sixth player to be named to the Team of the Week this season for Hartford.