HARTFORD— Hartford Athletic has announced the signing of midfielder/defender Gabriel Torres and defender Alex Lara. Torres, 23, hails from Salvador, Brazil, and comes to Hartford via Chattanooga Football Club of the NPSL, where Torres split his time in the field between defense and midfield, scoring a goal and recording two assists this past season. Prior to Chattanooga, he played for the University of the District of Columbia.





The Brazilian star enjoyed a stellar 2017 campaign at UDC, amassing 52 points on 20 goals and 12 assists, which earned him NCAA DII First team All American honors, CCA’s East Region Player of the Year, and East Coast Conference Offensive Player of the year. In 2018, Gabriel demonstrated his versatility playing as a defensive midfielder for PDL club The Villages SC, where he played all 17 games, forced seven shutouts, and never allowed more than one goal per match.





On Friday the Athletic announced that Lara has been signed for the 2020 season, pending league and federation approval. He is the 13th player signed for next season and the fifth defender.





Lara, who resides in Azusa, Calif., earned Second Team All-Big West honors in 2019 while playing at Cal State-Northridge where he anchored the CSUN defense. He started all 17 matches in which he appeared, scoring one goal and recording two assists. Over three seasons, Lara played in 53 matches, starting 36, and scored twice.





Further announcements regarding other new signings, along with returning players from 2019, will be announced in the coming weeks. Both signings are pending league and federation approval.





Current 2020 Hartford Athletic Roster:

GK: Mike Novotny

DF: Alex Davey, Alex Lara, Kevin Politz, Sam Strong, Gabriel Torres

MF: Danny Barrera, Nicky Downs, Mads Jørgensen, Aiden Mesias, Harry Swartz

F: Dre Deas, Alex Dixon

Hartford Athletic is Connecticut’s team in the USL Championship , and play their games at the new, renovated Dillon Stadium . Season tickets for the 2020 season are now on sale. For more information, click HERE