Unbeaten in Six, Hartford Athletic Continue Playoff Push Against Oakland Roots
Unbeaten in Six, Hartford Athletic Continue Playoff Push Against Oakland Roots
Latics aim for another three points at home as they welcome another Western Conference foe
Hartford Athletic welcome Oakland Roots to Trinity Health Stadium on Saturday night, looking to extend a six-game unbeaten run as they make a push for the USL Championship playoffs. The Latics’ current unbeaten stretch is the joint-longest in club history, tying the end of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season where they won five and drew one of their last six regular-season games.
The club’s recent performances have demonstrated real improvements defensively, culminating in three consecutive clean sheets for the first time in club history. Since the beginning of this current six-game run, the Latic’s defense has been one of the tightest in the league with only San Antonio conceding fewer goals per game and only Rhode Island sporting a better expected goals against number. This improvement is all the more impressive considering it comes amidst some defensive turmoil: regulars like Triston Hodge, Thomas Vancayaezeele, Younes Boudadi and Emmanuel Samadia have missed time, forcing Michael DeShields and recent signing Griffin Tomas into the lineup, where they made important contributions in recent matches.
Another key factor in defense has been the stellar play of Renan Ribeiro, who was the first Latic to be named USL Championship Player of the Week following his clean sheets in Memphis and Miami last week. In addition to a handful of highlight-reel saves, Ribeiro has played at a very high level in essentially every aspect of his game, showing good instincts and strong command of the box, as well as a flair for quick restarts to spark the attack.
At the other end of the pitch, Hartford’s attack has been depleted by injuries to Deshane Beckford and Michee Ngalina, but a hot streak from Mamadou Dieng has been enough to make up the difference. Since scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw against Charleston on July 12, the forward has nine goals in 12 games - only Nick Markanich has scored more over the same span. It’s arguable that, outside of Markanich, Dieng has been the best forward in the league over the last two months, and his sudden emergence as a reliable source of goals has been a key part of Hartford’s playoff push.
Saturday’s opposition have been up and down on the road this year, and their trips to the East Coast have been a bit of a mixed bag. The Roots did take a narrow 2-1 victory over The Miami FC, but also conceded a late goal to drop points in Rhode Island and were blown out 5-0 by a North Carolina team that has dropped down to 11th in the Eastern Conference. In their last five games overall, Oakland have had both an attack and defense that fall in the bottom third of the league, and leading scorer Johnny Rodriguez (10 goals, 3 assists) has not contributed to a goal in that stretch.
Hartford’s recent run of form has propelled them to the edge of the playoff picture, but entering Saturday night’s game, they still sit three points adrift. A goal differential that is much worse than their nearest rivals means the Latics still need every point they can get and their three home games represent their best chances to accumulate those. With the team running hot — and the opposition running a little cold, as well as making a difficult cross-country trek — Saturday night could be another key moment in the push for the playoffs.