SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Samuel Careaga scored early in the second half to lift Hartford Athletic to its first trophy in club history with a 1-0 victory against Sacramento Republic FC in the 2025 USL Jägermeister Cup Final at Heart Health Park.

Careaga’s goal was his team-leading third of the tournament, earning Final MVP honors, while goalkeeper Antony Siaha recorded a two-save shutout to complete the side’s undefeated seven-game run through the tournament.

Republic FC went close to taking the lead in the 20th minute when Russell Cicerone headed a near-post corner from the right that hit the left post and was cleared to safety by the visitors. Eight minutes later, Hartford also threatened from a set piece, but Junior Moreira’s final finish went high as the game went to the break scoreless.

Athletic almost took the lead early in the second half when Kyle Edwards turned his defender well but was denied by Republic FC goalkeeper Jared Mazzola, who turned the effort wide of the left post. Off the ensuing corner kick, however, Samuel Careaga fired home a first-time shot from the top of the penalty area after finding its way through traffic.

Sacramento tried to apply pressure late in search of an equalizer, and a header by Sebastián Herrera and low effort by Ryan Spaulding forced saves from Siaha inside the final five minutes. The hosts were reduced to 10 players in second-half stoppage time, however, as Herrera was sent off for his second yellow card, and saw their final chance in stoppage time flash wide of the right post from Cristian Parano moments before the final whistle blew.

Takeaways

Sacramento Republic FC: Republic FC was unable to take advantage of its chances, with Russell Cicerone’s effort off the post early and a flurry of efforts late that saw the side record seven shots from the 86th minute on end in vain.

Hartford Athletic: Hartford produced another exemplary road performance to claim the first trophy in club history, moving to 7-0-0 away from home across all competitions since August 1.

Key moment

Samuel Careaga’s set piece finish off a training ground routine was crisply set up by Sebastian Anderson and saw Hartford become only the second team to find the net against Sacramento in seven games across the USL Jägermeister Cup.

Key stat

148 – Hartford Athletic recorded 148 passes in the attacking half, 55.6 percent of its total passes, compared to 44.6 percent of Republic FC’s passes occurring in the attacking half, and had 10 more final third entries than the hosts.

USL Jägermeister Cup Player of the Match

Samuel Careaga, Hartford Athletic – The Argentine scored the lone goal of the game and recorded two shots overall while completing 20 of 26 passes, winning 2 of 3 ground duels and making three recoveries.

Scoring Summary
HFD – Samuel Careaga (Sebastian Anderson) 51’