The Lights host Eastern Conference rivals Hartford Athletic at Cashman Field on Hispanic Heritage Night
Match: Las Vegas Lights FC (9-10-5, 10th in Western Conference) vs Hartford Athletic (9-5-10, 4th in Eastern Conference)
When: Saturday, September 19
Where: Cashman Field, Las Vegas, Nevada
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. PT
How to Watch: SSSEN, ESPN+
There are only six matches left on the regular season calendar for the Lights. Six.
The suspense continues building up as the team hosts Eastern Conference opponents Hartford Athletic at Cashman Field in what promises to be one very intense showdown for three increasingly valuable points.
After losing three consecutive matches, the Lights ended their negative streak in sunny California, defeating Orange County SC 2-0 with goalscoring tandem Johnny Rodriguez and Oalex Anderson scoring a goal apiece. Vegas looked sharp in defense and incisive up front, clinically finishing any chances at the team’s disposal.
As for Hartford, they’re currently on a terrific run of form. The Connecticut-based club has not lost a single match in all competitions since August 1st (a 2-0 defeat at Loudoun United), winning seven of their last nine matches in an impressive unbeaten streak. In their last match, they defeated intra-conference rivals Sporting JAX in a clear 2-0 victory at home.
Historically, the Lights have never been able to defeat Hartford. But records and trends are meant to be broken. The Lights have a tremendous opportunity to win against the current Prinx Tires USL Cup champions for the first time, ending the third-longest unbeaten streak of the current season in the process.
A History Written by the Victors
As previously mentioned, the Lights have never defeated Hartford Athletic… ever. As a matter of fact, the team hasn’t been able to collect a single point against Saturday’s opposition.
Both teams faced off in 2022, 2023, and 2024, with Hartford winning by a score of 3-0, 2-0, and 2-1, respectively. Khori Bennett, now at Switchbacks FC, scored the Lights’ only goal against Hartford in 2024.
But the past does not necessarily define the future, and the Lights have built a team that has a proven capacity to rewrite history.
Keys to the Match
Here lie the keys to a historic, playoff-push win against Hartford.
One of the Championship’s deadliest duos
Johnny Rodriguez and Oalex Anderson are terrorizing the league, and it’s not even Halloween yet.
The Lights’ attacking duo has scored 22 goals this season, being directly involved in 63% of the team’s goals across all competitions.
Beyond the statistics, both forwards complement each other extremely well. Rodriguez drops back and helps the team as they build out from the back, pulling the opposition’s defensive line out of position and leaving pockets of space for the insanely fast Anderson to attack.
Johnny and Oalex are on fire. If they continue to perform at this level, then the Lights can trust their attack to earn three out of three at Cashman Field.
Sebastian Anderson: A dangerous player
Sebastian Anderson knows a thing or two about creating chances for his teammates.
The Sacramento native has been on fire for Hartford as of late, tallying five assists in his last six matches, including one to catapult his team into their second consecutive Prinx Tires USL Cup final.
Hartford’s full back (or wing back, depending on the team’s formation) has created 41 chances this season, with 14 of those being big chances where his teammates were left in ideal scenarios to score. No other player in the entire Championship has generated more big opportunities than Anderson.
Anderson represents a massive risk to the Lights’ intentions of winning at home. His creativity and intelligence going forward must be contained.
Antony Siaha: one of USL’s finest goalkeepers
Hartford’s goalkeeper Antony Siaha is having quite the USL Championship season.
A significant percentage of the credit for Hartford’s recent success can be attributed to the Cameroonian guardian.
Siaha is second overall in total saves (85), tied to Birmingham’s Jassem Koleilat and only surpassed by New Mexico United’s Kris Shakes (88). His save percentage is the second best in the league (79.4%), once again only marginally outdone by Tulsa’s Dane Jacomen (79.5%).
Siaha is also second in total clean sheets, shutting out the opposition an impressive nine times in 23 matches.
Antony Siaha is one of the best goalkeepers in the league. If the Lights want to earn a historic win against Hartford, they must go past him. And it won’t be easy.
