Hartford Athletic earned consecutive victories to start a season for the first time since 2021 as Michee Ngalina’s goal proved enough in a 1-0 win against Birmingham Legion FC on Saturday afternoon in rainy conditions at Trinity Health Stadium.

Here are three things we took away from the contest.

1. HARTFORD’S ATTACK IS ALMOST CLICKING

With the pieces familiar to Head Coach Brendan Burke’s system Harford brought in this offseason, the potential for a serious attacking force to emerge was clear. In its home opener, it almost overwhelmed Birmingham’s defense and should have made this game far more comfortable than it ended up being. The Athletic recorded 18 shots in the first half – the second-most in club history in the first half of a game – and its creativity and ability to press Birmingham into bad turnovers should have resulted in a bigger payoff.

That continued into the second half, and you wonder whether a more experienced forward like Romario Williams – away on international duty with Jamaica – would have been more clinical than youngster Mamadou Dieng, who registered a 1.18xG on three shots but missed out on his first goal. The silver lining, though, is it didn’t cost Hartford a victory, and those chances have a good chance of continuing to come.

2. ANDERSON ASIEDU RAN THE MIDFIELD

For some players, there’s nothing like getting a chance to face your former club. After signing with Hartford this offseason, that opportunity came for midfielder Anderson Asiedu after five seasons with Birmingham as a club original, and he sent a reminder to Legion as to why he’d been such an influential figure.

Asiedu was all over the place in winning position, recording three interceptions and eight recoveries while winning 4 of 4 tackles and 10 of 14 duels overall. He also contributed invention with a deft flipped assist that set up Ngalina for the game’s only goal midway through the first half, and almost found the net himself with a rasping shot that was well saved by Legion’s Matt VanOekel. There was likely no-one happier to walk off the field with three points on Saturday than the Ghanaian.

3. LEGION’S DEFENSE NOT LOOKING WATERTIGHT

Birmingham Legion FC was able to survive in its opener thanks to goalkeeper Matt VanOekel and his eight-save shutout, but despite more of his heroics in Harford there was no withstanding the attacking onslaught the Athletic delivered as Birmingham’s defense continued to spring leaks. The hosts recorded 11 shots on target – seven denied by VanOekel, and another three denied by blocks aside from Ngalina’s decisive finish – and cumulatively allowed a 4.13xGA mark.

There were chances for Legion to steal a point in the second half as Tabort Etaka Preston hit the crossbar with a long-range strike after Tyler Pasher was denied impressively by Hartford goalkeeper Paul Walters after a counterattack off corner kick for the hosts.  The defensive challenges the side has faced, though, need to be addressed to get this side on the course it wants to take.