Red-Hot Hartford Athletic Host Pittsburgh Riverhounds
The Latics are still targeting a home playoff game, while the Hounds are fighting to stay above the playoff line in the Eastern Conference
Hartford Athletic returns to action in the USL Championship on Saturday night as they host Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Trinity Health Stadium. It’s the penultimate home game for the Latics on the 2025 season — pending a home playoff game — and a bumper crowd is expected, with less than a few hundred tickets remaining unsold as of Friday morning.
On the sidelines for the Eastern Conference clash are the two active managers with the most USL Championship experience. Pittsburgh’s Bob Lilley has taken charge of 383 regular-season games in the league, more than any other manager. Hartford’s Brendan Burke has been on the sidelines for 252 games in the Championship, the third-most all-time.
As Burke looks to take a third different team to the playoffs, the long-term success of the league’s longest-tenured manager provides a reference point. “Structure, communication,” said Burke, when asked to identify why Lilley has had so much success over the years.
“He's excellent at that,” Burke said. “His teams always know exactly what to do in every single situation.”
That kind of attention to detail may have been lacking for Hartford in the early months of the season, but has certainly been present of late, as they’ve maneuvered up to fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The last few weeks have been particularly impressive, as Burke has been able to use his entire squad, winning four of five games in a 15-day span, including a USL Jägermeister Cup semifinal.
Where Hartford have been surging up the table, Pittsburgh have actually slid back somewhat. Over their last 10 games, the Hounds have picked up only 11 points, and they now sit seventh. Their defense continues to be robust, as they’ve conceded just 11 goals over those games, have given up a second goal in just three of them, and have given up more than two goals in none of them. In fact, in 31 games so far this season, the Hounds have given up more than two goals in a game just once; in a 4-1 loss to MLS side Philadelphia Union in the U.S. Open Cup.
The problem for Pittsburgh has been an attack that struggles to really pour it on. Over their last 10 games, they have just 11 goals, and they’ve yet to score more than two goals in a game in any competition this season.
It’s a striking comparison to Hartford, who have 21 goals in its last 10 games, and have scored three or more in 10 of its 32 games so far this season. The Latics don’t even have to play particularly well to find those goals: against Greenville in the USL Cup semifinal, they managed only two shots in the first 45 minutes, and then found three goals after the 70th minute.
One trick up Bob Lilley’s sleeve here could be Augustine Williams, who has five goals in five previous appearances against Hartford. Truthfully, Williams scores against everyone; he’s scored the second-most goals of any player in league history, and is one of only 11 players to surpass 100 total goal contributions. A player like that needs to be a priority for an opposing defense, and Burke acknowledged as much, emphasizing what it takes to prepare to contain a forward of that caliber.
“Those guys get a little extra attention and video for sure,” Burke said. “We just got to know tendencies. You got to know where they like to operate, where they like to pick it up, where they like to finish runs and beat them to those spots.”
The other thing in Pittsburgh’s favor is simply history. The two clubs have met on 16 previous occasions — the only club Hartford have played more often is Loudoun United — and Pittsburgh has dominated the series, winning on 12 occasions. Hartford’s only victories are a 1-0 win in 2020 — three points that helped them win their group and book a home playoff game that season — and a 2-0 triumph last season, headlined by a Michee Ngalina brace. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, but Hartford have indeed struggled to find ways to procure results against the Hounds.
The Latics will need to overturn that history, as with six games remaining in the regular season, they are very much in contention for a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference, and the home playoff game that would go along with it. Three points on Saturday night would be another huge step in that direction.