Hartford Athletic staged a late comeback to beat Charleston Battery 2–1 on the road in USL Championship play on Wednesday night. Kirill Pakhomov gave the hosts the lead in the 29th minute, but Michee Ngalina pulled Hartford level on 75 minutes before Barry Coffey struck deep into stoppage time to complete the turnaround.

The match had an edgy start. Charleston center back Nathan Messer was booked inside 18 minutes, and two more yellows followed in quick succession — Emilio Ycaza and Hartford's Beverly Makangila both cautioned at the 20-minute mark. Charleston channeled the early intensity into a goal nine minutes later when Pakhomov finished off a Jeremy Kelly delivery to make it 1–0.

Hartford offered little in response before the break. The second half brought more urgency from the visitors, though Charleston's backline held firm for a stretch. Messer picked up a second yellow card on the hour mark, and Hartford eventually found a way through. Ngalina equalized with 15 minutes remaining, dragging the visitors back into a contest that had looked like slipping away.

From there, Hartford pushed for a winner. The pressure finally told in the seventh minute of stoppage time when Coffey latched onto a Sebastian Anderson pass and buried the decisive goal. Jordan Scarlett had been booked at 81 minutes for the visitors, while Hartford's Baboucarr Njie was cautioned moments after the winning goal, a measure of the tension in the closing stages.

The result hands Hartford a valuable three points on the road as both sides jostle for positioning in the second half of the USL Championship season.