Hartford Athletic loses to Atlanta United

Elio Nicolas Firmino spoiled the Hartford Athletic home opener, leading Atlanta United 2 to a 2-1 win in a USL Championship game at Trinity Health Stadium on Saturday night.

The lone Hartford score came when Atlanta’s Noah Cobb was credited with an own goal at the 70-minute mark. The loss dropped Hartford to 0-2-1 on the season. Firmino got Atlanta (2-3-0) on the board with a goal in the first minute of extra time in the first half. He added to the lead at the 58-minute mark in the second half.

The Athletic next plays in a U.S. Open Cup game on Thursday at home against Oyster Bay United FC before heading on the road for games at Birmingham Legion FC (April 10) and Miami FC (April 16).

UConn baseball wins in extras

Casey Dana’s threerun home run in the 10th inning lifted the UConn baseball team to an 8-6 win over Kent State at Kent, Ohio. In addition Dana had a two-run homer in the first and five RBI on the day. Zach Bushling, Bryan Padilla and Matt Grabowski each had RBIs as the 19-6 Huskies totaled 13 hits. Ian Cook (4-0) relieved UConn starter Pat Gallagher and pitched 2 ⅔ innings of relief for the win. Justin Willis pitched the 10th for his sixth save. The two teams conclude the three-game series on Sunday.

Skidding Wolf Pack fall to Syracuse

The Syracuse Crunch took 28 shots on goal and eight of them found the mark in an 8-5 AHL win over the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center. Ty Ronning had two goals for Hartford (29-26-5-2), losers of four straight. Hunter Skinner, Patrick Khodorenko and Nick Merkley also scored for the Wolf Pack. Simon Ryfors and Anthony Richard each scored two goals for Syracuse. — Staff reports