PRESENTED BY TRAVELERS
Date: Sunday, April 10th, 2022
Time: 5:00 PM ET
Location: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Alabama
Local TV: WCTX MyTV9
Streaming: ESPN+ or hartfordathletic.com/watch
HARTFORD ATHLETIC (0-2-1) vs BIRMINGHAM LEGION (0-2-2)
LAST TIME OUT:
Hartford Athletic are coming off a strong bounce back U.S. Open Cup victory over Oyster Bay United FC on Thursday night. Hartford scored a season high three goals, while just conceding one on a penalty converted by Oyster Bay’s Junior Rosero. Fighting through a rainy and windy night, Hartford was able to score off a corner kick when Joel Johnson finished a header on a feed from Luka Prpa. Adding to that assist, Prpa provided the goal that gave Hartford a 2-1 lead on an opportunistic rebound. Prince Saydee added the icing on the cake in the game’s final minutes with Hartford’s third goal, assisted by Rashawn Dally. The victory comes after a disappointing home loss to Atlanta United 2 last Saturday, providing Hartford with a better taste in their mouth heading into Birmingham.
LOOKING FOR AN EXCLAMATION POINT:
While the results haven’t been there for Hartford’s offense out of the gate in 2022, they’ve shown promise in their attacking third play, but haven’t been able to provide the final exclamation point. They’ve scored just three goals in three USL Championship matches, but took a step in the right direction with a 3-1 victory on Thursday night. Last week, Coach Watling said, “We need to be more ruthless in the final third.” A ruthless performance should earn the Green and Blue three points in Birmingham.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Hartford Athletic, Conor McGlynn MF #28
If there’s a player who can light the goalscoring candle for the Green and Blue, it’s Conor McGlynn. Playing in his third season with Hartford, the 23-year-old has a knack for scoring highlight reel goals, as he had four goals from outside the box last season including one from his own half. He took a shot from about 30 yards out last week against Atlanta that challenged their keeper, and he is bound to find the back of the net sooner rather than later.
Birmingham Legion, Anderson Asiedu MF #6
Asiedu earned USL Championship Team of the Week honors last week, as he was all over the pitch in Birmingham’s 0-0 draw to top Eastern conference club Louisville City FC. The midfielder won back possession 13 times, won eight duels, completed four dribbles, made two tackles, and added two shots and one clearance. The 25 year old is yet to score a goal this season, but has five shots and is sure to make things difficult for Hartford in the center of the pitch.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Similar to Hartford Athletic, Birmingham Legion were able to find a spark in their struggling offense in their Open Cup match this week. After back to back scoreless performances against Colorado and Louisville, the Legion bagged three goals from Rosper Kasim, Bruno Lapa, and Marlon Santos in a 15 minute span in their 3-1 victory over Southern States SC. The Legion made headlines this week with their signing of MLS veteran striker Juan Agudelo. Whether he’ll be in their lineup against Hartford on Sunday is uncertain, but he will surely make an impact if he is. This is only the third ever meeting between these two clubs, the last one being a 4-0 Hartford victory in 2019 in which Danny Barrera scored.
INJURY REPORT:
Hartford Athletic:
OUT: Juan Carlos ObregĂłn Jr. (knee)
Birmingham Legion:
None
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Follow along on twitter @hfdathletic and #BHLvHFD
