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USL Hartford Athletic

Hartford Travel to Loudoun for Monday Matchup

July 2, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Hartford Athletic News Release


Date: Monday, July 3rd, 2023

Time: 7:30 PM ET

Location: Segra Field, Leesburg, Virginia

Newly named Head Coach Omid Namazi leads Hartford Athletic to Leesburg, Virginia, for their second matchup of the season with Loudoun United FC. Namazi and Athletic can snap a six-game winless streak and complete the season sweep of the familiar Eastern Conference foe.

LAST TIME OUT

Hartford Athletic are coming off a 2-0 loss to Indy Eleven on Saturday, June 24th. A frustrating night for Hartford, they had multiple positive spells of play but failed to score a goal. Hartford's best chances came early in the second half when Andre Lewis and Edgardo Rito were denied by Yannik Oettl on shots from inside the box. Indy struck first in the 73rd minute on a brilliant goal from Cam Lindley, who fired a shot from well outside the box off the left post and in. Hartford was unable to create many scoring opportunities towards a comeback effort, and conceded again in stoppage time to fall 2-0.

RAMOS RELIEVED, NAMAZI TAKES OVER

On Monday, June 26th, Hartford Athletic relieved Tab Ramos of his head coaching duties. After taking over in the final six games of the 2022 season, Ramos finished 5-13-4 overall. A disappointing end to another Head Coach's tenure, Hartford looks to move forward. Former Assistant Coach and Director of Scouting Omid Namazi was promoted to Head Coach, taking over immediately. Watch his introductory press conference below:

CREATING, BUT NOT SCORING

Hartford out performed Indy in multiple statistical categories last Saturday, and spent far more time threatening to score. Hartford had 66 final third entries to Indy's 40, and 23 touches in their box to Indy's six. Eight of their 11 shots came from inside Indy's box, and they finished the match with three total big chances and 1.25 expected goals. Hartford have scored 20 goals, xG vs. actual (expected goals vs. actual goals) rate is -0.13, which is in the bottom 10 in the league. Hartford has scored 20 goals on the year (13th in league).

THE FIRST MEETING

Hartford Athletic defeated Loudoun United 2-0 in their first meeting of the season on May 20th at Trinity Health Stadium. Hartford were in control for most of the game, suffering few dangerous scoring threats from Loudoun. Juan Pablo Torres scored first for Athletic in the 23rd minute, with Kyle Edwards picking up the assist. Torres' first goal with Hartford and Edwards second assist of the year. Edwards was involved again in the second half, drawing a penalty kick after getting tripped in Loudoun's box. Elvis Amoh converted the penalty for Hartford, and the score stayed the same the rest of the way.

MATCHUP HISTORY

Hartford Athletic have a deep history with Loudoun United across four seasons. They have faced the Northern Virginia side 13 times (most matchups with a team in club history) since both clubs entered the league in 2019, and Hartford have dominated the series like no other matchup they've had. The Green and Blue hold an astonishing 11-1-1 overall record against Loudoun, suffering their only loss to Loudoun at Segra Field last September.

LINEUP SHAKEUPS

Through 16 league games, Hartford Athletic have yet to repeat the same starting 11 in back to back games. The turbulent season so far has seen eight different players miss games due to injury, and two red card suspensions. While Coach Namazi will try to find consistency in a starting 11, he emphasized his intention to use his full roster during games earlier this week. "I intend to use all my five subs," said Namazi. "Obviously, it depends on the game and how the game is going, but I'd like to keep everybody involved, making sure everybody is engaged, and that their fitness level is not dropping... Hopefully, through these rotations, we can keep everybody on the same page so that no matter who we put in, we can still get the results we want."

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

Loudoun United are coming off a 3-0 loss to Charleston Battery last Friday, June 30th. An early goal from Charleston's Augustine Williams gave the home side the lead, and a red card was given to Loudoun's Jace Clark in the 41st minute. Down a man for the whole second half, Nicholas Markanich recorded a brace and Loudoun couldn't fight their way back in the game. The end of June saw a challenging stretch for Loudoun, as they played three games in just nine days and dropped all three in a row. They've dropped just below the playoff line into ninth place and are one of three teams locked at 16 points apiece (Tulsa, Detroit). Loudoun are led offensively by Zach Ryan (eight goals), and have scored the same amount of goals as a team as Hartford (20).

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Hartford Athletic, Luke Merrill, DF #19

Luke Merrill made his fourth start of the season last week against Indy Eleven, and has been a bright spot for Hartford since he's seen an uptick in playing time. He led all players in last week's match in final third entries (10), duels won (11), and tackles (4). He also played a key role in distribution for Hartford with 71 passes with over 80% accuracy. Merrill is in his first year as a professional after finishing his senior year of college at Westminster College in Utah.

Loudoun United, Zach Ryan, FW #28

Forward and captain for Loudoun United Zach Ryan is the club's leading goal scorer. His eight goals places him one off of the USL Championship lead. Loudoun are 5-0-1 when Ryan scores and are 0-11-0 when he does not.

INJURY REPORT

Hartford Athletic

Out: None

Loudoun United

Out: Alex Nagy (ACL), Kwame Awuah (Achilles)

Questionable: Bryce Washington, Cole Turner

Disciplinary: Jace Clark (Red card vs. Charleston Battery)

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: For live updates, follow along on twitter using the hashtag #LDNvHFD

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