Hartford Athletic opens second half of season with visit to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Hartford Athletic travels to Pittsburgh on Saturday night for the first game of the second half of the season, hoping for its first result outside Trinity Health Stadium since a 1-0 win over El Paso Locomotive on opening night of the 2024 season in March.

The Latics head to Pittsburgh looking for their first win at Highmark Stadium since September 2020, and their first points of any kind there since the final day of the 2021 season, when they secured a scoreless draw. defeated the Hounds earlier in the seasonHartford is also trying to secure the double against Pittsburgh for the first time in club history.

The first half of the season ended in mixed fashion last Friday. Hartford took a deserved lead into half-time after playing their best football in weeks at home to one of the East’s best teams, but a red card for Renan Ribeiro early in the second half was followed by two goals from Charleston, and the Latics were forced to share the points. While the result will be considered a disappointment given the score at half-time, the first-half performance was encouraging, and Hartford supporters will hope it bodes well for further improvement to come.

While the Latics have had occasional bright spots at home, there has been far less to cheer about away from home. Hartford have now lost seven games in a row away from Trinity Health Stadium, having been knocked out in five of them. They have scored just three away goals this year — only one of which came from open play — and have not scored as a visiting team since mid-May.

Pittsburgh were coming off a surprise showing; after being shut out in six straight games, they thrashed Oakland Roots 5-0. The scoreline may have been a little flattering – excluding a penalty, they scored four goals on just 11 shots and had an xG well under two – but they also strangled Roots defensively, limiting them to two shots all game. It was a typically solid defensive performance from the Hounds, who allow the fewest shots per game in the league and rank in the top five defenses in both goals against and expected goals against. The numbers are even more impressive at home, where they allow fewer than six shots per game and are perhaps the most airtight defense in the league.

It all presents a tough challenge for Hartford, who will be looking to generate some sort of attacking spark on the road in one of the toughest environments in which to do so. The whole team needs to show more attacking verve from the first whistle, but key players such as Michee Ngalina and Anderson Asiedu, who both played well in an encouraging first half against Charleston, will need to deliver. Mamadou Dieng, who scored a fortuitous first goal last time out, will also need to repay the faith shown in him by Brendan Burke with some more clinical displays, and Saturday night is a good time to start.

Hartford currently sits eight points out of the Eastern Conference playoff spots (despite having games in hand) and needs to start picking up points quickly if they hope to play postseason football this season. Saturday’s challenge is a tough one, but one the club must rise to if they are to start the second half of the season on a high.

Kickoff at Highmark Stadium is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.