PRESENTED BY TRAVELERS
Date: Saturday, September 21st, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Location: Trinity Health Stadium, Hartford, Connecticut
Tickets: HERE
Watch: MyTV9, wtnh.com, ESPN+
HARTFORD ATHLETIC (9-12-7) vs OAKLAND ROOTS SC (12-12-4)
Playing their best soccer and sitting just three points below the Eastern Conference playoff line, Hartford Athletic can make another jump up the table with a home win against Oakland Roots SC on Saturday night.
LAST TIME OUT
Hartford Athletic are coming off a comfortable 3-0 victory at Miami FC last Saturday, busting the match open with all three goals in the second half. Mamadou Dieng led the way with his second brace of the season, scoring first in the 49th minute. Danny Barrera played a quality ball to the young striker toward Miami’s box, and Dieng blasted his shot low and past Khadim Ndiaye. About 20 minutes later, Dieng connected with Joe Farrell to double Hartford’s lead. He crossed the ball from the top left side of the box to his teammate just in front of goal, and Farrell tapped in the rebound after Ndiaye stopped his first shot. The young striker provided the finishing touches with his third goal just before the 90th minute, scooping up a misplayed ball by Ndiaye and finishing on the open net.
MATCHUP HISTORY
Hartford are 1-1-0 vs Oakland Roots SC. The first of the two matchups took place at Trinity Health Stadium on October 8th, 2022, ending in a 3-1 victory for Oakland. The last matchup was at Laney College Football Stadium, which resulted in a 2-1 victory for Hartford. Interestingly enough, in both matchups, the team who led in possession lost the game. Oakland dominated with 68% ball possession in the last matchup, and 15 shots compared to just six from Hartford. However, five of Hartford’s six shots were on target while Oakland had only two.
FAMILIAR FACE
Niall Logue makes his return to Trinity Health Stadium as a member of Oakland Roots SC. The Irish center back made 20 appearances and 18 starts for Hartford a year ago, notching two assists as well. He’s been a mainstay in Oakland’s back line this season, logging 23 appearances and adding a goal and assist to his stat line.
COMING INTO FORM
Hartford Athletic have come into quality form in the late stage of the season, going undefeated in their last six matches (3-0-3). They lead their opponents in almost every stat category over this span including a +13 tackles won differential, +26 interceptions, +16 shots inside the box, +6 shots on target, +16 total big chances, +23 touches in opposition box, +98 final third entries, and +4 clearances. Joe Farrell has been especially instrumental for the back line with a team-leading 26 clearances and seven interceptions. Emmanuel Samadia is also back on the defensive end after spending time with the Sierra Leone national team. In the three-game stretch before playing with the national team, he was one of Hartford’s most efficient defenders, with nine interceptions and seven clearances.
PAINTING THE PLAYOFF PICTURE GREEN
Hartford Athletic’s recent run of form has put them in the USL Championship playoff conversation. They jumped in front of North Carolina after last Saturday’s win, moving into 10th place after being stuck in 11th for the majority of the season. They’re just three points below the playoff line, with six matches left and 18 points to collect. With a Hartford win and a Pittsburgh tie or loss, they can surpass the Riverhounds and move into ninth place. To move above the line, the Green and Blue will have to rely on a maximum point total. Their -14 goal differential is the lowest of any team in playoff contention, making their matchup with Loudoun on October 5th, and with North Carolina on October 12th (both at home) crucial calls for three points.
BETWEEN THE POSTS
Hartford Athletic, Renan Ribeiro #40
Renan Ribeiro has been stellar for Hartford lately, earning USL Championship Player of the Week for his performance over Hartford’s recent road trip (first Player of the Week in Hartford Athletic history). He was heroic in Hartford’s 0-0 draw at Memphis 901 FC on Wednesday night, putting on a showstopping seven-save performance to keep his team from dropping a crucial point. He was peppered with six shots in the second half, and came up with one acrobatic denial after another. The red hot keeper picked up right where he left off when Hartford traveled to Miami on Saturday, erasing the home side’s most dangerous scoring opportunity of the night when he leapt into the air to push Alejandro Mitrano’s curling strike up and over the crossbar. In 21 starts, Ribeiro has made 81 saves (third in the league, and second most in Hartford Athletic single-season history), collected six clean sheets, holds a 1.07 GAA and the league’s best save percentage at 80% (minimum 15 games played).
Oakland Roots, Paul Blanchette, #20
In 23 appearances this season, Blanchette has tallied 71 saves (good for 8th most in the league), 35 goals conceded, and four clean sheets. The 30-year-old goalkeeper is in his fourth season with Oakland, joining the team ahead of the 2021 season. Before signing with Roots, Blanchette made ten appearances with Rio Grande Valley FC in the 2020 season. Since graduating from Loyola Marymount, Blanchette has played for six different teams, although over 60% of his games have been with Oakland. Blanchette began the 2021 season on the bench before taking over as the full-time goalkeeper midway through the season. Blanchette made 23 appearances in the regular season as well as two more in the playoffs both of which were shutouts. In 2022, Blanchette made 20 starts, earning Player of the Week once and Save of the Week twice.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Oakland Roots come into Saturday’s matchup in sixth place in the Western Conference (12-12-4) with a 7-5-2 record at CSUEB Pioneer Stadium and 5-7-2 on the road. However, they’ve been struggling lately, losing the last two matches in scoreless fashion and going 1-2-2 in the previous five. Oakland’s success this season is somewhat surprising when looking at the stats. They have a -12 goal differential with 33 goals scored and 45 goals conceded, the latter good for second most in the league. Even though Oakland ranks third to last in shots, they are efficient in their opportunities, ranking seventh in conversion rate (15%). Oakland also play very physically, ranking top ten in fouls conceded (379), yellow cards (74), and tied for the second most red cards (6). Two of those six red cards have come from one of Oakland’s premier defenders, Neveal Hackshaw, who is fourth on the team in minutes played, third in duels won, second in clearances, and first in blocks.
Prematch Interviews
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Johnny Rodriguez FW #17
Rodriguez has hit his stride the last two seasons as Oakland’s leading goalscorer. In the 2023 season, he tallied 12 goals, 43 shots (28 on target), one assist, and 21 chances created in 31 appearances with 22 starts. Through 26 appearances (20 starts) in the 2024 campaign, Rodriguez has put up an equally impressive stat line with ten goals, three assists, 46 shots (21 on target), and 12 chances created. This year, Rodriguez is tied for 8th in goals scored in the league.
The 26-year-old striker made his debut with Oakland in the 2020-2021 NISA season in which he played six games and scored in both the semi-final and final of the 2020 NISA Fall Championship Tournament. He made his USL Championship debut on August 18, 2021, in a 1-1 draw with New Mexico United, coming on as a substitute. At the beginning of 2021, after a successful debut, Rodriguez went down with an injury the night before the opening game. Despite the setback, he still made 20 appearances scoring twice, including a bicycle kick that won Oakland Roots Goal of the Year. In 2022, Rodriguez once again won Oakland Roots Goal of the Year, scoring two goals in 24 appearances all off the bench.
Mamadou Dieng FW #33
Dieng is in the midst of the most successful stretch of his young career, scoring nine goals in his last twelve games. He is tied for 10th in the league in goals scored after netting two goals in a 3-0 victory against Miami FC. Mamadou is Hartford’s leading goalscorer, adding 41 shots which is second on the team behind Michee Ngalina. Dieng has been very efficient in the attack, putting over half of his shots on target and posting a far-and-away team-leading 141.9 minutes per goal. The 20-year-old Senegalese striker signed with Hartford on a long-term contract in February ahead of the 2024 season after playing for the Sahel Academy in Senegal. He went goalless in his first twelve appearances with the Green and Blue but is now in late-season form and helping push Athletic closer to the playoffs.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
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