2020 Hartford Athletic season

The 2020 Hartford Athletic season was the club's second season of existence and their second in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer.^[1] This article covers the period from October 20, 2019, the day after Hartford's final match of the 2019 regular season, to the conclusion of the 2020 USLC Playoff Final, scheduled for November 12–16, 2020.^[2]

Hartford Athletic

2020 season
Owner	Hartford Sports Group
Head coach	Radhi Jaïdi
Stadium	Dillon Stadium
USL Championship	Group F: 1st Eastern Conf.: 2nd
USLC Playoffs	Conf. Quarterfinals
U.S. Open Cup	Cancelled
Highest home attendance	1,375 (6 times)
Lowest home attendance	1,207 (July 20 vs. Loudoun)
Average home league attendance	1,351
Biggest win	HFD 4–1 LDN (Aug. 2) PHI 0–3 HFD (Sept. 20)
Biggest defeat	PIT 5–0 HFD (Sept. 12)
Home colors Away colors
← 2019 2021 →

Season in review

Background, off-season and pre-season

Hartford finished its inaugural season in next to last place in the Eastern Conference, seven table positions and fourteen points out of the playoff spots. The club parted ways with head coach Jimmy Nielsen^[3] just seven days after the 2019 season's end and signed former Southampton U-23 coach Radhi Jaïdi to fill the vacancy on November 8.^[4] The club also parted ways with COO Donovan Powell five days later.^[5]

The club began announcing roster moves in October, also, quickly announcing the return of four players from the 2019 roster (Harry Swartz, Alex Dixon, Alex Davey, and Nicky Downs),^[6] with the return of Danny Barrera^[7] and Mads Jørgensen^[8] being announced in early November, and the return of Mike Novotny^[9] being announced in early December. New signings began in earnest in late November with the addition of Aiden Mesias,^[10] former Fresno FC defender Sam Strong,^[11] Brazilian defender Gabriel Torres,^[12] 2019 Greenville Triumph center back Kevin Politz,^[13] Cal State Northridge products Dre Deas^[14] and Alex Lara,^[15] Dartmouth midfielder Noah Paravicini,^[16] and UT-Rio Grande Valley midfielder Arthur Rogers.^[17] In January, the club signed San Antonio FC's all-time leading scorer Éver Guzmán,^[18] Brazilian defender Matheus Silva,^[19] and announced the return of forward Mac Steeves.^[20] In February, the club announced loan deals for goalkeeper Parfait Mandanda^[21] and Southampton U-23 midfielder Tyreke Johnson.^[22]

Roster

As of September 4, 2020^[23]

No.	Position	Nation	Player
2	DF	USA	Alex Lara
3	DF	BRA	Matheus Silva
4	DF	USA	Kevin Politz
5	DF	SCO	Alex Davey
6	MF	ENG	Arthur Rogers
7	MF	USA	Noah Paravicini
8	MF	DEN	Mads Jørgensen
9	FW	USA	Mac Steeves
10	MF	USA	Danny Barrera
11	FW	USA	Alex Dixon
16	MF	BRA	Gabriel Torres
17	FW	USA	Alfonso Vazquez
18	GK	USA	Mike Novotny
25	DF	ISR	Idan Cohen
20	FW	NOR	Markus Naglestad
21	MF	USA	Nicky Downs
23	MF	ENG	Aiden Mesias
24	DF	USA	Sam Strong
28	MF	USA	Conor McGlynn
33	MF	USA	Harry Swartz
35	GK	COD	Parfait Mandanda (on loan from Charleroi)
42	FW	USA	Dre Deas
80	MF	USA	Justin Haak (on loan from New York City FC)
88	MF	ENG	Tyreke Johnson (on loan from Southampton)
99	FW	MEX	Éver Guzmán

Competitions

Exhibitions

Match results

Hartford Athletic v Newtown Pride FC

February 12, 2020 (2020-02-12) Preseason 1	Hartford Athletic	3–0	Newtown Pride FC	Farmington, Connecticut
	Mac Steeves 30' Conor McGlynn Tyler Turner	Report		Stadium: Farmington Sports Arena

New York Red Bulls II v Hartford Athletic

February 14, 2020 (2020-02-14) Preseason 2	New York Red Bulls II	2–3	Hartford Athletic	Montclair, New Jersey
		Report	Alfonso Vazquez Mads Jørgensen Mac Steeves	Stadium: MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field

Hartford Athletic v New England Revolution II

February 19, 2020 (2020-02-19) Preseason 3	Hartford Athletic	5–1	New England Revolution II	Farmington, Connecticut
1:00 PM EST	Guzmán 12', 15', 38', 45+1' Vasquez 76'	Report	Trialist 66'	Stadium: Farmington Sports Arena

New England Revolution II v Hartford Athletic

February 22, 2020 (2020-02-22) Preseason 4	New England Revolution II	1–0	Hartford Athletic	Foxborough, Massachusetts
1:00 PM EST	Presley  20' Spaulding 31'	Report	Silva  72'	Stadium: Gillette Stadium Attendance: 0
Note: Closed door scrimmage

Hartford Athletic v Hartford Hawks

March 3, 2020 (2020-03-03) Preseason 5	Hartford Athletic	2–2	Hartford Hawks	Farmington, Connecticut
1:30 PM EST		Report		Stadium: Farmington Sports Arena

USL Championship

Main article: 2020 USL Championship season

Standings — Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
1	Hartford Athletic	16	11	2	3	31	24	+7	35	2.19	Advance to USL Championship Playoffs
2	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	16	11	1	4	39	10	+29	34	2.13
3	New York Red Bulls II	16	5	0	11	30	37	−7	15	0.94
4	Philadelphia Union II	16	2	3	11	20	45	−25	9	0.56
5	Loudoun United FC	13	1	3	9	10	28	−18	6	0.46

Source: USL

Match results

In the preparations for the resumption of league play following the shutdown prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hartford's schedule was announced on July 2.^[24]

New York Red Bulls II v Hartford Athletic

July 17 1	New York Red Bulls II	0–1	Hartford Athletic	Montclair, NJ
7:00 PM EDT	Corfe  78' Elney  90+4'	Report	Guzmán 12' Silva  53' Barrera  62' Downs  89' Deas  90+3'	Stadium: MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field Referee: Joshua Encarnación

Hartford Athletic v Loudoun United

July 20 2	Hartford Athletic	3–1	Loudoun United	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Politz 3' Swartz 45' Johnson 55' Dixon  65'	Report	Amoh  43', 58' (pen.) Doue  90'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 1,207 Referee: Adam Kilpatrick

Hartford Athletic v Philadelphia Union II

July 25 3	Hartford Athletic	3–2	Philadelphia Union II	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Silva  29' Torres 39' Jørgensen 43' Guzmán 53' McGlynn  66'	Report	Scintu 4' Picazo 16' Kingue  90+7'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 1,375 Referee: Thomas Snyder

Indy Eleven v Hartford Athletic

July 29 4	Indy Eleven	4–1	Hartford Athletic	Indianapolis, IN
7:00 PM EDT	Moon 4' Pasher 51' Conner 81' Watson 87'	Report	Swartz  33' Davey  45+5' Dixon 46' Silva  90+3'	Stadium: Lucas Oil Stadium Attendance: 4,775 Referee: Lukasz Szpala

Hartford Athletic v Loudoun United

August 2 5	Hartford Athletic	4–1	Loudoun United	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Guzmán 7', 18' Lara  45' Barrera 66' Dixon  84' Torres  90+3' Vazquez Villar 90+8'	Report	Amoh 21' (pen.),  56'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 1,375 Referee: Jeremy Scheer

Philadelphia Union II v Hartford Athletic

August 9 6	Philadelphia Union II	P–P	Hartford Athletic	Chester, PA
TBA PM EDT				Stadium: Talen Energy Stadium
Note: Match postponed due to positive covid-19 test in the Union II organization.[25]

Hartford Athletic v New York Red Bulls II

August 15 7	Hartford Athletic	2–1	New York Red Bulls II	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Dixon 21' Silva  27' Strong 40',  86' Johnson  45+3'	Report	LaCava  59' Elney 74'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 1,375 Referee: Ernie Constantine

Philadelphia Union II v Hartford Athletic

August 19 8	Philadelphia Union II	P–P	Hartford Athletic	Chester, PA
7:00 PM EDT				Stadium: Talen Energy Stadium
Note: Match postponed due to positive covid-19 test in the Union II organization.[26]

Hartford Athletic v Loudoun United

August 23 9	Hartford Athletic	2–2	Loudoun United	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Swartz  28' Barrera  67' Silva  69' Naglestad 85' Dixon 89'	Report	Wiedt 22' Ndour  23' Amoustapha  44' Amoh 73',  84' Greene  88'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 1,375 Referee: Thomas Snyder

Hartford Athletic v Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

August 28 10	Hartford Athletic	0–3	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Lara  83'	Report	Gómez  7' James 11', 50' Griffin 22'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 1,375 Referee: Jeremy Scheer

Hartford Athletic v Loudoun United

September 5 11	Hartford Athletic	2–1	Loudoun United	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Silva  6' Rogers 17',  56' Strong  43' Guzmán  70' Torres 76'	Report	Fawole 4' Ndour  30' Mehl  77'  87'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 1,375 Referee: Christian Centeno

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC v Hartford Athletic

September 12 12	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	5–0	Hartford Athletic	Pittsburgh, PA
7:00 PM EDT	James 13', 47' Mensah 27', 61' Velarde 42' (pen.)	Report	Strong  39' Torres  81' Naglestad  82' Haak  83'	Stadium: Highmark Stadium Referee: Eric Tattersall

Hartford Athletic v New York Red Bulls II

September 16 13	Hartford Athletic	3–1	New York Red Bulls II	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Silva 11' Haak  43', 75' Dixon 45+1' Torres  54' Barrera  68'	Report	Rito  40' LaCava 64' Clark  69'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Referee: Thomas Snyder

Philadelphia Union II v Hartford Athletic

September 20 14	Philadelphia Union II	0–3	Hartford Athletic	Chester, PA
5:00 PM EDT	Huckaby  34'	Report	Dixon 8', 58' Topey 13' (o.g.) Strong  44' Johnson  90'	Stadium: Subaru Park Referee: Luis Arroyo

Hartford Athletic v Philadelphia Union II

September 23 15	Hartford Athletic	1–1	Philadelphia Union II	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Strong 45+2',  88' Cohen  56' Jørgensen  68'	Report	McGlynn 76' Aaronson  90'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 1,375 Referee: Jeremy Scheer

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC v Hartford Athletic

September 26 16	Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC	0–1	Hartford Athletic	Pittsburgh, PA
7:00 PM EDT	Dos Santos  72'	Report	Guzmán 30', 36' Silva  47' Politz  50' Barrera  64' Mandanda  71' Novotny  89' Haak  90+5'	Stadium: Highmark Stadium Referee: Joshua Encarnación

Philadelphia Union II v Hartford Athletic

September 30 17	Philadelphia Union II	2–3	Hartford Athletic	Chester, PA
7:30 PM EDT	Budler  7' Cohen 22' (o.g.) Sorenson  42' Stafford 60'	Report	Jørgensen 8' (pen.) Lara 15' Dixon  25' Strong  55' Barrera 90'	Stadium: Subaru Park Referee: Christian Centeno

New York Red Bulls II v Hartford Athletic

October 4 18	New York Red Bulls II	0–2	Hartford Athletic	Montclair, NJ
7:00 PM EDT	Bounthong  48' Sowe  55' Dieye  83'	Report	Lara  39' Johnson 65' McGlynn 75' Strong  90+1'	Stadium: MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field Referee: Sean Lyons

USL Cup Playoffs

Hartford Athletic v Saint Louis FC

October 10 First round	Hartford Athletic	0–1	Saint Louis FC	Hartford, CT
7:00 PM EDT	Silva  16' Strong  45+1' Barrera  61' Politz  90+3'	Report	Greig  73' Fall  89' Rivas 90+3'	Stadium: Dillon Stadium Attendance: 2,194 Referee: Kevin Broadley

U.S. Open Cup

Main article: 2020 U.S. Open Cup

As a USL Championship club, Hartford as enter the competition in the second round, to be played April 7–9.^[27] The 2020 U.S. Open Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[28]

Hartford Athletic v Western Mass Pioneers or
GPS Portland Phoenix

April 9 2nd Round	Hartford Athletic	P–P	Western Mass Pioneers or GPS Portland Phoenix	Hartford, CT
7:00 pm EDT				Stadium: Dillon Stadium
Note: Match cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[28]

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		USLC
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
11	FW	USA	Alex Dixon ||16 || 6 ||15 || 6
99	FW	MEX	Éver Guzmán || 13 || 5 || 12|| 5
4	DF	USA	Kevin Politz ||15 || 1||14 ||1
33	MF	USA	Harry Swartz ||7 || 1||7 ||1
23	MF	ENG	Aiden Mesias || 14 || 0||13 ||0
42	FW	USA	Dre Deas || 7 || 0|| 7||0
28	MF	USA	Conor McGlynn ||10 ||1 ||9 ||1
25	DF	ISR	Idan Cohen || 8 || 0|| 7||0
24	DF	USA	Sam Strong ||14 || 2|| 13||2
21	DF	USA	Nicky Downs ||11 || 0|| 11||0
20	FW	NOR	Markus Naglestad || 9 ||1 || 8||1
17	FW	USA	Alfonso Vazquez || 4||1 || 4||1
16	MF	BRA	Gabriel Torres ||15 || 2|| 14||2
10	MF	USA	Danny Barrera || 17 ||2 || 16||2
9	FW	USA	Mac Steeves ||0 || 0|| 0||0
8	MF	DEN	Mads Jørgensen ||12 ||2 || 12||2
6	MF	ENG	Arthur Rogers ||15 ||1 ||14 ||1
3	DF	BRA	Matheus Silva || 15 || 1|| 14||1
2	DF	USA	Alex Lara ||12 ||1 || 12||1
7	MF	USA	Noah Paravicini ||0 ||0 || 0||0
80	MF	USA	Justin Haak || 8 ||1 ||7 ||1
Players who left Hartford during the season:
85	MF	ENG	Tyreke Johnson ||14 ||2 ||14 ||2
5	DF	ENG	Alex Davey || 3 || 0|| 3|| 0

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Name	USLC		Total
3	Defender	Matheus Silva	8	0	9	0
10	Midfielder	Danny Barrera	4	0	5	0
21	Midfielder	Nicky Downs	1	0	1	0
42	Forward	Dre Deas	1	0	0	1
11	Forward	Alex Dixon	3	0	3	0
28	Midfielder	Conor McGlynn	1	0	1	0
33	Midfielder	Harry Swartz	2	0	2	0
5	Defender	Alex Davey	1	0	1	0
16	Midfielder	Gabriel Torres	3	0	3	0
35	Goalkeeper	Parfait Mandanda	0	1	0	1
24	Defender	Sam Strong	7	0	8	0
12	Defender	Alex Lara	3	0	3	0
80	Midfielder	Justin Haak	3	0	3	0
4	Defender	Kevin Politz	1	0	2	0
88	Midfielder	Tyreke Johnson	2	0	2	0
18	Goalkeeper	Mike Novotny	1	0	1	0
8	Midfielder	Mads Jørgensen	1	0	1	0
6	Midfielder	Arthur Rogers	1	0	1	0
99	Forward	Ever Guzman	1	0	1	0
20	Forward	Markus Naglestad	1	0	1	0
25	Defender	Idan Cohen	1	0	1	0

Clean sheets

No.	Name	USLC	USLC Playoffs	Total	Games Played
		22	Parfait Mandanda	4	0	4	16
16	Mike Novotny	1	0	1	2

Transfers

In

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee/notes	Date	Source
Defender	Sam Strong	Fresno FC	Free	December 1, 2019
Defender	Gabriel Torres	Chattanooga FC	Free	December 9, 2020
Defender	Kevin Politz	Greenville Triumph SC	Free	December 9, 2019
Forward	Dre Deas	CSUN Matadors	Free	December 12, 2019
Defender	Alex Lara	CSUN Matadors	Free	December 12, 2019
Midfielder	Noah Paravicini	Napa Valley 1839 FC	Free	December 18, 2019
Forward	Arthur Rogers	Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros	Free	December 23, 2020
Forward	Ever Guzman	San Antonio FC	Free	January 8, 2020
Midfielder	Matheus Silva	Miami FC	Free	January 13, 2020
Midfielder	Conor McGlynn	FA Euro New York	Open tryouts	March 12, 2020
Forward	Alfonso Vazquez	Windham High School	Open tryouts	March 12, 2020
Forward	Markus Naglestad	Egersunds IK	Free	August 13, 2020
Defender	Idan Cohen	Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.	Free	September 3, 2020

Out

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee/notes	Date	Source
Defender	Alex Davey	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Free	September 2

Loan in

Pos.	Player	Parent club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source
Goalkeeper	Parfait Mandanda	R. Charleroi S.C.	Season long	February 20	End of season
Midfielder	Tyreke Johnson	Southampton F.C.	Season long	February 24	October 8
Midfielder	Justin Haak	New York City FC	Remainder of the season	September 9	End of season

Loan out

Pos.	Player	Loanee club	Length/Notes	Beginning	End	Source

Kits

Home

Away

Charity Alternate

Type	Shirt	Shorts	Socks	First appearance / Record
Home	Green	Green	Green	Match 3 vs. Louisville / 6–2–1
Away	White	White	White	Match 1 vs. New York / 4–0–2
Charity Alternate	Red	Red	Red	Match 15 vs. Philadelphia / 1-0-0

See also

• Hartford Athletic
• 2020 in American soccer
• 2020 USL Championship season