August 5, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Hartford Athletic News Release
Date: Saturday, August 6th, 2022
Time: 8:30 PM ET
Location: AutoZone Park, Memphis, Tennessee
Local TV: WCTX MyTV9
Streaming: ESPN+ or hartfordathletic.com/watch
HARTFORD ATHLETIC (4-13-5) vs MEMPHIS 901 FC (13-5-3)
LAST TIME OUT
Athletic enters this week’s match in Indiana after a heartbreaking loss to Birmingham Legion last Saturday, falling 1-0 in stoppage time. Hartford broke out of their shooting slump in front of their home crowd, firing off 18 shots after taking just three in the prior two games. Although they had two big chances and 1.4 expected goals, the Green and Blue were unable to get one past Birmingham’s keeper. The story was much the same for Birmingham for 90 minutes, but they broke through in the first minute of stoppage time. A pass from Yannik Oettl intended for Tom Brewitt was intercepted by Enzo Martinez, who beat Oettl while he was out of position and netted the game winning goal.
GOT TO GET ON THE BOARD
Hartford Athletic are in the midst of a scoring drought, netting just four goals over their last five games. Their offensive quality improved against Birmingham last Saturday, but they were still unable to find a goal. Post game, Ray Reid said, “We got to get a goal. If we get a goal, Yannik is clearing that ball instead of trying to pass it,” referring to the misplaced pass that led to Birmingham’s game winning goal. Hartford will look to get back on the board against Memphis on Saturday night.
THE GREAT WALL
The Memphis backline and keeper Trey Muse have been a force to be reckoned with this season. Muse has amassed four clean sheets on the season and 37 saves. His above average stats can largely be attributed to the Memphis defense. Altogether, their 20 goals conceded are good for the fourth-fewest USL Championship this season and their six team clean sheets rank top 10. After being unable to score in their past two matches, a strong Memphis backline is a less-than ideal matchup for Hartford.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Hartford Athletic, Tom Brewitt, DF #5
Center back Tom Brewitt has been the backline backbone for Hartford throughout the season. He’s the club’s iron man, playing in every minute of every game so far this season. The Scouser will be faced with the challenging task of containing Memphis’ high-powered offense, who, despite being without their top scorer Phillip Goodrum on Saturday (unavailable for selection), have plenty of other threats to…