PREVIEW: Hartford Head to Pittsburgh in Search of 2nd Straight Win
PREVIEW: Hartford Head to Pittsburgh in Search of 2nd Straight Win
The Green and Blue head to the league-leaders on Saturday, looking to string together consecutive results for the first time all season.
In a season of so many lows, Hartford Athletic are finally riding some resemblance of momentum heading into their only road game in the month of August.
Two late goals and a come-from-behind win vs. New Mexico United last weekend gave Hartford Athletic their second win in three games, and their fourth of the season.
It is one of their best stretches in an otherwise disappointing season, that has pinned the Green and Blue in the depths of the Eastern Conference despite the recent string of results. In order to save what seemed to be a sinking ship in late July, August was always going to be a make-or-break month for Hartford, and that will continue with a trip to the league-leading Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday.
In search of two consecutive wins for the first time all season, Hartford has a tough task ahead of them in a 12-4-8 Pittsburgh team that are winners of their last two matches and has lost only once at home all year. The sole defeat came just three weeks ago in a 3-1 midweek loss to Indy Eleven.
Adding on to their impressive run of form at Highmark Stadium this season, the latest victory came in the form of a 1-0 win vs. the third-place Tampa Bay Rowdies. The lone goal came courtesy of Albert Dikwa in the third minute, where he tapped in Tola Showumni’s pass from inside the box to give the hosts the early lead. The goal was his 11th of the season, and enough to see the Riverhounds win their 13th game of the year at home, sending them four points clear of second-place Charleston in the Eastern Conference.
Readers of The Blazing Musket may also recall the Riverhounds’ visit to Gillette Stadium earlier in the season, where they sent the New England Revolution packing in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 1-0 win, delivering the then-MLS leaders their first home loss of the year in all competitions. Pittsburgh would go on to become one of only two USL Championship teams alongside the Birmingham Legion to progress to the quarterfinal stage of the competition, before falling to FC Cincinnati.
Defensively, the Riverhounds are tied with Louisville City SC for a league-leading 11 clean sheets on the year, seven of which have come at home. They’ve conceded the second-least amount of goals in the Championship as a result (20), a statistic in which Hartford leads the league having conceded more than double that amount (47).
Hartford has had their fair share of struggles on the road, most recently conceding five goals in a 5-2 loss to Sacramento Republic FC two weeks ago. They have amassed a record of 2-7-2 on the road, with one of their two wins coming just one week prior in a 2-0 victory over the Las Vegas Lights.
The Green and Blue currently sit dead last in the Eastern Conference, a stark contrast from the Riverhounds. They are buried in a four-point hole at the bottom, and sit 12 points out of the last playoff spot with their season on the line in every remaining game.
Despite what the stats may show, Hartford forward Antoine Hoppenot remained positive following last week’s win, one in which he scored the go-ahead goal in the late stages to give Hartford all three points.
“We gotta win a lot of games in a row here, and we know that in the locker room, so we’re going for everything,” Hoppenot said. “Our season’s not over, so we’re gonna go out there and I think Pittsburgh’s gonna get a mean, angry and very motivated Hartford Athletic next week.”
According to Hoppenot, an early goal, such as the one Hartford conceded against New Mexico, will be much harder to come back from against a team of Pittsburgh’s caliber.
“If you give up a goal early at Pittsburgh, you’re in a lot of trouble,” Hoppenot said. “So hopefully we’re able to keep them at 0-0, able to sneak one early, but if we’re at 0-0 going into the half, we have the firepower to get goals, we’ve shown that all year.”
Hartford head coach Omid Namazi shared the same sentiment following Wednesday’s training session.
“We’ve shown over the last month or so that we can play with anybody, we just gotta be a little bit better in terms of defending set pieces, and defending in general,” Namazi said. “As long as we defend well, we’ll have a chance against anybody. Pittsburgh is a good team, but they’re not a team that can’t be beat.”
Kickoff from Highmark Stadium in the battle between first and last is set for 7 p.m. ET on WCTX MyTV9 and ESPN+.