Two Away Games & Two Wins

There’s no better way to start a season than with two wins on the road. After winning Group F of last years condensed USL Championship season, some said that the group draw favored Hartford Athletic due to the poor form of some of the other teams and that Hartford were lucky to make the playoffs. With that said, the 2021 season will be a new test for Hartford Athletic and, so far, they are doing well.

Hartford opened up the season against New York Red Bull’s II, securing a 3-2 win. It took only 13 minutes for midfielder and captain Danny Barrera to score Hartford’s first goal of the season, as Hartford dominated the 2nd half of play with only 3 subs on the bench. This was also the first senior-level win for new Head Coach Harry Watling. 

Heading into the second match of the season, Hartford Athletic were the underdogs: According to the sports prediction site FiveThirtyEight, Hartford had just a 22% chance of winning against Miami FC. Hartford proved this prediction wrong, beating Miami FC 1-0 win thanks to a nice back heel pass from Danny Barrera that led to Tabort Etaka’s 59th minute goal. Hartford seemed to enjoy control of the ball and, when not in possession, were able to control who had it and where – this is exactly how Watling wanted to play. Though Hartford may have opted to defend for the rest of the game in the past, Hartford never gave up and persistently tried to score more goals in this match. In the 75th minute, Miami nearly tied the match, as goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell came off his line to cut off a Miami attacker, who missed an empty net goal by mile. Despite this, I would say this is Hartford’s best performance in franchise history, which proves they have a good set of players this season. 

So, what’s next for Hartford Athletic? Hartford's next game is their home opener against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, who they struggled against last season. Hartford only won one of their three matchups against the Riverhounds in 2020, as they were outscored 8-1 across those matches. Hopefully Hartford’s new couch and team will propel them to a win this weekend.