HARTFORD CITY START THEIR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TITLE DEFENSE ON WEDNESDAY

Hartford, Conn. – Hartford City FC get their postseason campaign started on Wednesday, July 10^th by hosting New Jersey United AC in the North Atlantic Conference Tournament Semifinal. That match will take place at Trinity Health Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 7pm.

MATCH INFORMATION

Fans looking to purchase tickets for Wednesday’s match can in person at Trinity Health Stadium (250 Huyshope Ave, Hartford, CT, 06106) when gates open approximately one hour before kickoff, or online by searching Hartford City FC on Soccerstub.com. Tickets cost $10 for Adults and all children under 12 get in for free.

The match will be live streamed via Hartford City FC’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HartfordCityFC) with JJ Duke handling Play-by-Play duties. Highlights on the match will be available on the teams’ social media channels in the days following.

2024 POSTSEASON FORMAT

After finishing the Regular Season in second place with a 7-2-1 record (22 points), Hartford City FC earned the right to host the lone Conference Tournament Semifinal match as the North Atlantic Conference using a three-team, single-elimination tournament to crown its champion. New Jersey concluded their first regular season in the NPSL with a 6-4-0 record (18 points) and a comfortable 9 points ahead of fourth-placed Syracuse FC. But they will have to hit the road twice if they want to win the conference title, as the winner of Wednesday’s match will play New York Shockers on Saturday, July 13^th at Afrim’s Sports Park. The winner of Saturday’s Conference Final will advance to the East Regional Semifinals and more information about that stage of the postseason is now available on NPSL.com

LAST TIME OUT

The Colts wrapped up their Regular Season slate with a 3-0 victory over Syracuse FC up in Camden, NY on Saturday, July 6^th. HCFC raced out to a 2-0 lead inside of 15 minutes, with both goals coming from Evan Southern. His first tally came less than three minutes into the match when Nate Becher played him through with a lovely through ball before Southern raced around the Syracuse defense in the 12^th minute to double the lead. Both teams had to deal with hot and humid conditions for a mid-afternoon kickoff in central New York and during the second half, there was a lightning delay that stopped the match for over a half hour. But Hartford City picked up their third goal of the afternoon with fifteen minutes to go as Evan Jones headed home Michael Suski’s cross. Nate DiLoreto made his seventh start of the season in goal and registered his fifth clean sheet, and fourth in a row.

With a potential heavy schedule on the horizon, Head Coach Louis Beddouri was able to rotate his squad and get some minutes from some fresh faces. Suski and Michael Gouvin earned their first starts, while Eli Bastiaansen and Cristian Sayers got their first minutes of the season and there was a return from Devan Jessop, who came off the bench for the first time since the season opener.

 POSTSEASON RECORDS

 Hartford City FC are making their sixth appearance in the NPSL playoffs and have an all-time postseason record of 5-5. The Colts were North Atlantic Conference Champions in 2021 & 2023, with both triumphs coming against Kingston Stockade, before dropping out at the East Region Semifinals stage in both years. HCFC also reached a conference championship match, then playing in the Atlantic White Conference, in the clubs’ debut season in 2017. HCFC bowed out in the Conference Semifinals stage twice, once in 2018 to the Brooklyn Italians and the other in 2022 at home to the Shockers.

NOTHING GIVEN AWAY LIGHTLY

A common theme that ties Hartford City and New Jersey United together is that these are two of the top defensive teams in the entire NPSL. Both teams have registered six clean sheets during the regular season, with New Jersey’s Max Pfaffman in net for all six for his club while HCFC’s Nate DiLoreto has posted five and Jamie Fite kept one. Hartford City also hasn’t allowed a goal in 471 minutes of game time, with their last concession coming in the 69^th minute of a 2-0 loss to Syracuse FC back on June 1^st. The Colts enter the postseason tied for eighth in the NPSL in fewest goals allowed with eight and have tied a club record for both Goals Allowed (8) and Goals Allowed Per game (0.80), both marks previously happening in the 2022 season.

THE EVAN’S ARE ON FIRE

On the attacking side of things, Hartford City have scored 20 goals over the ten regular season games in 2024, a slight improvement on the 19 that the teams scored in 2023. And there has been great balance in the side this year with ten different players finding the back of the net. But the two Evan’s on the roster, Evan Jones and Evan Southern, have been the standouts this season. A year removed from being named as part of the East Region Best XI, Evan Southern posted four goals in the regular season, two of which coming in the regular season finale at Syracuse, while Evan Jones has notched a team best six goals in 2024. And he will enter the postseason with goals in three straight matches with single tallies at Kingston on June 22^nd and Syracuse last weekend, as well as his two-goal output at home vs. Valeo FC on June 29^th, after scoring the winners vs. Kingston and at New Jersey earlier this year.

ABOUT OUR OPPONENT

 Sometimes you don’t know how things will turn out in your first season in the NPSL, as often enough they can used as a season to learn about yourself and the league. But New Jersey United AC have played steady soccer all season long this year and are one of five first-year NPSL clubs to qualify for the 2024 postseason. While NJ United won all six of their matches against the teams that didn’t qualify for the playoffs, they went winless in four combined matches against Hartford City and New York and were outscored 9-1 in those contests. But they will enter the postseason in great form by winning three of their last four matches of the regular season, including last weekend’s 3-0 victory at Valeo FC with Diego Navas scoring twice to increase his season total to six goals, which ties Evan Jones’ for second highest in the conference, while Jamie Madrid chipped in with a late tally. Also keep an eye out for Navas’ striker partner Khaled Daoud, as he’s found the back of the net three times this season.

July 8 at 7:29 pm