Can the Richmond Kickers again be the elixir to the Portland Hearts of Pine’s struggles?
Stuck on a four-game losing streak, Portland hosted Richmond on June 24 and throttled the visitors by a 5-1 score, exploding for four goals in the second half. The Hearts could use a similar result in their game against the Kickers at 7 p.m. Saturday, having only scored twice in the past three games as part of their current six-game winless streak (0-4-2).
If Portland is going to make the playoffs for a second time, Richmond could be the place to get started. The Kickers have scored the fewest times (19 goals in 20 games) in USL League One and given up the most tallies (40). Overall, Richmond has a -21 goal differential. Portland is at -5.
But if Portland loses, it will find itself only one point ahead of Richmond and in a battle to stay out of the bottom of the table. After beating Richmond the first time, Portland went on to win two straight before stumbling into its current streak.
Portland showed great effort on Wednesday on the road against the defending champions. The Hearts gave up a late goal, forcing a tie that could have been worse without another strong effort from goalkeeper Hunter Morse.
A familiar face across the field
Playing Richmond is another reminder of what has changed from a year ago. Following a steady season at center back for the Hearts, Sean Vinberg was not brought back. At the time, Hearts management saw an opportunity to improve the team defensively by bringing in Brecc Evans, an All-League center back from FC Naples.
Evans played in the opener, but an injury kept then him out for a month, signaling an unfortunate but ongoing revolving-door theme for Portland’s defense. Nine different players total have played some kind of outside-fullback minutes for Portland in 2026. That’s made it nearly impossible to build continuity among whoever is taking the field.
And this doesn’t even account for the loss of offensive weapons Masashi Wada and Titus Washington. A reduced offense only means more time for the opponent’s offense to create scoring chances.
Of course, losing all-USL1 left back Nathan Messer to Charleston Battery, who play in the USL Championship, the second tier of U.S. soccer, also has to be considered when looking at how Portland’s defense has operated. Messer made the move prior to the start of the season, and the Hearts have struggled to fill his spot with six players taking turns at Messer’s position.
Add it all up, and it’s resulted in a step back defensively from a year ago, when Portland ranked fifth in goals conceded, giving up an average of 1.3 a game. This season, that figure has grown to 1.6 goals per game. Portland has also managed just one shutout this season, a far cry from 2025, when the Hearts posted six clean sheets.
For his own part, Richmond team reports say Vinberg has been a steadying influence for the Kickers and has graded out as one of the team’s better players. It’s unclear if Vinberg will again wear the captain’s armband as he did in that June rout.