Hartford Athletic seeks to rebound
Rasmussen: Late fold vs. Charleston cost us 3 points
Hartford Athletic’s 3-2 loss to the Charleston Battery on Saturday at Dillon Stadium was heartbreaking by any metric. In the extreme heat, Athletic took a 2-1 lead only to concede two goals in as many minutes and ultimately came away with nothing in front of 3,117 home fans.
The loss still stings as Hartford now prepares for another home match on Saturday against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
“Three points were waiting for us, but we missed out,” midfielder Phil Rasmussen said. “That’s what it is, and now it’s just for us to focus on this week of training and then prepare us for the game on Saturday.”
The two teams met earlier this season, when Athletic traveled to Pittsburgh and lost 3-1. Pittsburgh is coming off a win over North Carolina FC on Saturday and sits at eighth in the Eastern Conference, just ahead of Charleston and in the thick of the playoff race.
Hartford has now lost four of five and is in last place in the East.
The Dillon Stadium difference
After playing home games at Rentschler Field to start the season, Hartford officially moved into Dillon Stadium on Aug. 13 and earned an upset win over Indy Eleven to excite the sellout crowd. Attendance at Dillon Stadium’s second match was down, but the high temperatures no doubt played a part.
In their inaugural season, Athletic has enjoyed a wide base of support from the community in and around Hartford, even as success on the pitch has been elusive.
“I didn’t really expect Hartford to be such a soccer city, but it’s quite remarkable how many people on average have come and supported us, whether that’s through bad weather or when we were struggling a bit,” forward Wojciech Wójcik said. “They’ve shown up all the time. They’ve been there on a consistent basis for us, and I think that’s something that speaks a lot about the city.”
Dalgaard close to returning
Midfielder Sebastian Dalgaard is practicing and may return soon, Hartford coach Jimmy Nielsen said. Dalgaard was injured a few matches ago against Birmingham and the injury turned out to be worse than the team originally thought.
“He was in very, very good form. We’ve seen the Sebastian that we all know he can do for five, six weeks where he consistently played on a high level, and unfortunately got the injury in Birmingham,” Nielsen said. “He’s back in practice this week.”
Nielsen has also had to manage a defense that is short on bodies. Hartford currently only has five defenders on its roster, and fatigue can be a major problem. That only gets worse when the conditions deteriorate, like during Saturday’s match that was played in temperatures close to 100 degrees.
Athletic has implemented some new programs to make sure players stay healthy, like weighing players before and after each practice, and making sure they’re always properly hydrated.