What will go down as the best season in Hartford Athletic history so far ended abruptly Saturday night, after a toothless display in the USL Championship playoffs first round at Pittsburgh.
Hartford managed just six shots, three on target, in 120 minutes of action and were rarely able to create chances going forward. The team wasn’t helped by an injury to star midfielder Michee Ngalina, who went down in extra time and had to come out of the game.
Still, Athletic but kept Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC off the scoreboard as well, holding them to 11 shots and only one on target as the game ended scoreless and went to penalties.
Hadji Barry missed the first penalty for Hartford, while Bertin Jacquessonn buried it for Pittsburgh. Joe Farrell and Jack Panayotou converted their attempts for Athletic, but after Pittsburgh buried its next two, Samuel Careaga missed, and the Riverhounds advanced, 4-2.
Pittsburgh, the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, will host Detroit City FC next after Detroit pulled off a stunning upset win at top-seeded Louisville City, handing Louisville just its second loss of the entire season (they had been 22-7-1).
Hartford finished the season at 13-5-12 (W-D-L), having lost three straight at the worst possible time, after a stirring run of victories had fans feeling like the group were title contenders.
Despite the playoff loss, Hartford did win its first-ever trophy this season, taking home the Jagermeister Cup title last month.