Hartford Athletic didn’t get going until late Wednesday night, after the sun had already gone down, the downtown lights illuminating the Hartford skyline in the distance, and a collective anxiety gripping Trinity Health Stadium.
But two goals in the final eight minutes sent a frenzied crowd home happy, as Hartford rallied for a dramatic 3-1 win over Greenville Triumph SC in the Jägermeister Cup semifinals.
All four goals came in the final 20 minutes. Joe Farrell struck first for Hartford, heading a perfectly-placed ball from Sebastian Anderson home in the 70th minute for a 1-0 lead. But Greenville, which sits 11th in the USL League One standings, a league lower than Hartford, showed why it had advanced this far in the cup– responding with a set-piece goal from Evan Lee in the 74th minute to stun the crowd and make it 1-1.
Hartford re-took the lead in dramatic fashion with a goal in the 85th minute, when Marlon Hairston finished off a rebound off of an attacking sequence started by Michee Ngalina and Kyle Edwards.
Ngalina then sealed the win in stoppage time, intercepting a loose pass and sprinting half the field before finishing clinically to make it 3-1.
Hartford advanced to the Jägermeister Cup Final for the first time ever, where it will face Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, Oct. 4 in California. Sacramento advanced after a penalty shootout win over Rhode Island FC.

