Hartford Takes Home 3-2 Win in Grudge Match against Sacramento Republic
USL Hartford Athletic

Hartford Takes Home 3-2 Win in Grudge Match against Sacramento Republic

Published on October 11, 2025 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Hartford Athletic News Release


In a moment of déjà vu from just a week ago (plus a lot more drama), Hartford Athletic defeated Sacramento Republic FC by a one goal margin at home on Saturday night. The side was sporting specially designed red and blue uniforms in celebration of the season's Match for a Cause in support of the American Cancer Society.

Both teams came out with a fire in their bellies, as the memory of the USL Jägermeister Cup final from just seven days before was still fresh in their minds. Sacramento pounded the Hartford goal with shot after shot, but the "Boys in Red & Blue" stayed strong.

In the 18th minute, Athletic broke through for the first of three goals. Receiving the ball near the center circle, Marlon Hairston picked his head up and picked out Sebastian Anderson who was making a run into the box. The Sacramento, California native took one perfectly controlled touch before slipping the ball past goalkeeper Danny Vitiello.

A little over 10 minutes later, Republic tested the Hartford backline with their most dangerous opportunity of the match. Jack Gurr ran onto a pass from Cristian Parano and hit a powerful one-touch shot. Antony Siaha came up big and got his right hand down to make the quick-reactionary save. Sebastian Herrera followed up on the rebound and had a crack at it, but Jordan Scarlett made a diving block. The deflection fell back at Herrera's feet and he fired off another attempt but hit the post. Athletic wasn't out of danger yet, as Dominik Wanner picked up the loose ball and had another look at goal. His attempt sailed over the crossbar and the Boys in Red & Blue were able to breathe a sigh of relief after a chaotic moment in the box.

Despite Sacramento's pressure, Hartford again found the back of the net in the 38th minute. Joe Farrell hit a long ball up to Michee Ngalina on the wing to start the play. Ngalina's first touch went a little far but Kyle Edwards was there to bring it under control. Inside the box, Edwards played it back to Ngalina who brought it under control and powered the ball into the back of the net to make the score 2-0.

Just seconds before the referee blew the whistle for halftime, Sacramento Republic netted one of their own. Dominick Wanner assisted Jack Gurr with a perfect cross to a clinical one-time finish.

Just after the teams took the field for the second stanza, the visiting California side bagged their second goal of the game. In the 50th minute, Cristian Parano played a through ball to Wanner who found the back of the net with a close-range left-footed shot.

Throughout the half, momentum swung back and forth as both teams vied for the winning goal.

After some drama in the Hartford defensive half led to four yellow cards, the Blue and & Red (for tonight) slipped one away for their third and final goal of the match in the stoppage time. Anderson put a cross into the box and Adewale Obalola got on the end of it. His touch fell to Hadji Barry, whose back was to goal. The former USL Championship Player of the Year took a touch to turn and played the ball to Jonathan Jiménez. The Norwalk, Connecticut native took a touch behind his leg and fired off an off-balance shot that nestled itself perfectly in the bottom right corner of the goal.

The game ended in a 3-2 final score for Hartford Athletic. With this result, the Boys in Green clinch a spot in the postseason. Details on match time and location will be announced soon. The Green & Blue next take the field on the road against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday, October 18th at 7:30PM. The match can be viewed here.

FAST STATS

HARTFORD SACRAMENTO

Shots 12 20

Shots On Target 4 6

Corners 4 3

Fouls 10 16

Offsides 3 0

Possession 42.9% 57.1%

Passing Accuracy 78.1% 86.0%

Saves 4 1

SCORING SUMMARY

HARTFORD SACRAMENTO

18 ‚¬Â² - Sebastian Anderson (Marlon Hairston) 45+3 ‚¬Â² - Jack Gurr (Dominik Wanner)

38 ‚¬Â² - Michee Ngalina (Kyle Edwards) 50 ‚¬Â² - Dominik Wanner (Cristian Parano)

90+5 - Jonathan Jiménez (Hadji Barry)

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY

HARTFORD SACRAMENTO

86 ‚¬Â² - Bench (Yellow) 27 ‚¬Â² - Nick Ross (Yellow)

87 ‚¬Â² - Antony Siaha (Yellow) 36 ‚¬Â² - Bench (Yellow)

88 ‚¬Â² - Adewale Obalola (Yellow) 84 ‚¬Â² - Aaron Edwards (Yellow)

90+5 - Jonathan Jiménez (Yellow) 90+8 - Aaron Edwards (Yellow, Red)

LINEUPS

HARTFORD SACRAMENTO

77 (GK) Antony Siaha 1 (GK) Danny Vitiello

22 (DF) TJ Presthus 4 (DF) Lee Desmond (C)

4 (DF) Jordan Scarlett (C) 6 (DF) Freddy Kleemann

15 (DF) Joe Farrell 17 (DF) Dominik Wanner (Aaron Edwards, 76 ‚¬Â²)

2 (MF) Sebastian Anderson 22 (MF) Michel Benítez

8 (MF) Junior Moreira (Jonathan Jiménez, 71 ‚¬Â²) 19 (MF) Nick Ross

94 (MF) Marlon Hairston (Beverly Makangila, 34 ‚¬Â²) 20 (MF) Blake Willey

10 (MF) Samuel Careaga (Adewale Obalola, 71 ‚¬Â²) 2 (MF) Jack Gurr

5 (MF) Baboucarr Njie 9 (FW) Juan Sebastian Herrera Sanabria (Khori Bennett, 58 ‚¬Â²)

11 (FW) Michee Ngalina (Hadji Barry, 90+2) 10 (FW) Cristian Parano Rasguido (Luis Rodrigues, 76 ‚¬Â²)

71 (FW) Kyle Edwards (Jack Panayotou, 56 ‚¬Â²) 24 (FW) Lewis Jamieson (Ryan Spaulding, 69 ‚¬Â²)

Check out the Hartford Athletic Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 11, 2025


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