Hartford Athletic suffered their second home defeat in team history on Sunday afternoon, falling 3-2 to Nashville SC at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. The loss snapped Hartford’s four-match unbeaten run in USL Championship play and dropped it to 17th in the Eastern Conference standings.
Hartford and Nashville went back and forth in the opening 30 minutes, with both sides creating a series of notable chances they failed to finish. Athletic created the more dangerous opportunities, with their most glaring chance coming in the 27th minute. Mads Jorgensen’s knuckling effort from a long-range free kick sailed past Nashville keeper Matt Pickens, but it ricocheted off the crossbar, and the score remained tied.
Nashville opened the scoring in the 31st minute. Hartford goalkeeper Frederik Due attempted to roll the ball to Logan Gdula, but Nashville winger Ropapa Mensah intercepted the pass. As he saw Due closing in, Mensah laid the ball off to Daniel Ríos, who slotted it into the bottom-right corner of the Hartford net.
Hartford tied it just one minute later. Raymond Lee whipped in a diagonal cross from the left side of the Nashville penalty area, and Sebastian Dalgaard’s header bounced past Pickens’ outstretched arms.
After Pickens saved a Jose Angulo penalty, Hartford broke the tie in the 58th minute. Defender Sem De Wit floated his header past Pickens, giving Hartford its first lead of the match.
Nashville tied it four minutes later. Frederik Due managed to save Ríos’ one-on-one effort, but Lebo Moloto scooped up the rebound and curled it past the Hartford keeper. Then, substitute Cameron Lancaster gave Nashville the lead, scoring with a bar-down rocket from just outside the Hartford penalty area.
Hartford Athletic will travel to Birmingham Legion FC next Saturday night for a an Eastern Conference match at 8 p.m.
